The Cutting Edge Chapter 9: The Last Run, a teen titans fanfic

Part 9: The Last Run

Scalpel wasn't sure what had happened.

He had been blown across the street, then beaten up by Cauterize (again) and as he was trying to get his brain back in order he had heard the voice speak, the voice of the ally that Savior had called and asked to keep out of sight until he was needed…which was later then Scalpel preferred, really. And while he could hear the voice, he couldn't really make out the details of the words, as his brain was a tad bit scrambled from being punched in the face a few hundred times. But he was a Blacktrianian, he was tough, and he was swiftly recovering, his vision clearing, as he rolled over and got up…

And found that he was alone with his allies.

Cauterize was gone.

So was Kid Flash.

He blinked, opened his mouth, and then closed it again, as he glanced at his three teammates, Terra helping a still very woozy Beast Boy up, while Savior wiped the blood from his nose. It was clear the other three shared his confusion.

"Where did they go?" Terra was the first to ask.

"Not sure." Savior replied. "Speed Force users can be…"

And then the boom came out of nowhere, a tremendous ear-splitting bang that caused all the Titans to clamp their hands over their ears and nearly caused hearing sensitive Scalpel to have a seizure.

"Owwwwwwwwwwww. What was that?" Beast Boy groaned.

"Sonic boom." Savior replied, finally having an vague idea where Cauterize and Kid Flash were. He had most likely just witnessed something similar to a thunderstorm. Lightning always came first, followed by the thunder, because light went so much faster then sound.

That sonic boom had been the sound of Kid Flash and Cauterize…doing what?

That Savior didn't know, but he knew that his called ally was the last chance of bringing Elijah Versaw to justice. Most people tended not to realize just how powerful skilled Speed Force users were. Wally West, the current Flash, was known more for his joking, semi lackadaisical manner then his membership on the Justice League, but when he wasn't with the League, Wally was the defender of Keystone and Central City, two blue-collar towns connected by a bridge. And what a lot of normal people didn't realize was that when he was with the League, Wally tended to dial down what he could do, as he was part of a team and you had to work to be part of a team, which meant no showboating and such. But alone…the Flashes of history had had a select group of villains that were considered almost exclusively "theirs", almost like a union, known as the Rogues. And The Flash had a lot of Rogues, with a wide variety of powers. And Wally had stood alone against them, more often then not, and won. Most people just assumed the Flash could run fast. No, the Flash could do far more then that…if he could think of it. That was the downside of the Speed Force: it could make people incredibly impatient. Impatient people tended to rush forward and do what immediately occured to them rather then think it out. It was the reason behind Kid Flash's former name of Impulse: he tended to do everything ON impulse.

But Elijah wasn't like that. Elijah was patient. Elijah had brains and imagination. Elijah was the type who had taken the time to discover the Speed Force could do more then just let you run fast.

And against something like that…only one thing could really work. Another Speed Force user.

Even so, Savior wished Kid Flash luck.

He was going to need it.

To truly understand this battle, you have to understand just what the Speed Force does to you. Then again, that in a way is impossible, as only someone who had tapped the Speed Force can truly describe it. But we will try.

As mentioned, the Speed Force wasn't so much the power of making yourself really fast so much as it was making the world and everything around you really really slow. The more you tapped the power, the slower things went for you…until the point where everything seemed permanently frozen, a second having become an eternity.

But…the point of this power was that while everything was frozen to you, you still moved at a semi-normal speed in this state. Which had its advantages. Certain laws of physics became nonexistent in this realm. You could walk on water because it had become as solid as rock. You could step and walk up walls and ceilings because gravity no longer had time to claim you. And once you mastered certain abilities of the Speed Force power, you no longer had to worry about friction because you moved so fast the air never had time to register your presence. Of course, in order to do this, you had to learn some tricks of your own. Like taking a breath beforehand because breathing in these states could be problematic. But the human body could adapt. It was marvelously malleable at times.

But that was just ONE point of the power. You could go deeper, you could open the throttle even more…and it was THEN that you truly became superfast, as your speed increased even more while the world remained in its frozen state. Which was useful, for while you could easily jog from one end of the United States to the other while in a Speed Force State, time frozen and your body never getting tired because of the manipulations of the energy…time still stayed the same for YOU, and not many people had the patience to spend a month running across a country. No, for the ultra quick trips…you had to go deeper. Then you could cross the world in the blink of an eye, and more.

But there was a brand new set of dangers involved in doing this, as you had to thoroughly and exhaustively retrain your reflexes and perception, because the faster you went, the less time you had to react…and if you ran into something while in that deeper state…well, you would get the other side of the sword from the world of altered physics you existed in. If you run into or even brush something while going at a good human speed, you might give yourself a nasty bruise. Do it while going at several thousand miles a second, you could very well shatter yourself into your component atoms. Not to mention that you had to use the energy properly so you didn't grind your joints into dust within a minute due to them making hundreds or thousands of rotations in a second. And be on the lookout for things that could disrupt your concentration: abrupt shifts in the use of the Speed Force rarely resulted in anything good. And be careful not to screw up the use of the energy so that it made your heart beat so fast it exploded or expanded your lungs so fast they popped. And…well, let's just say that if a moron found the power to tap the Speed Force, he probably wouldn't live very long.

And that's not even mentioning all the little tricks one had to learn about being a Speed Force user (like how to talk to people in said state, a tricky issue as one had to basically keep one's vocal cords in one state and the rest of one's body in the rest, or else if you wanted to talk to people it would come out so fast you would sound like a Chipmunk, or maybe that joke in Family Guy where Peter said he could recite all 50 states in a quarter of a second and then just made a loud yelping noise that was supposed to be that accomplishment…in any case, that is why no one heard the following conversations: the speed was so high that the sentences were reduced to sounds as brief as Peter's fifty states yelp, or so short that people weren't even aware they had heard them)…but suffice to say…when it came to mastery of their talent, neither side in this confrontation could be said to be any less then exceptional.

Which side was more so…was yet to be revealed.

In the conversation we left a few pages back, Scalpel was opening his mouth in the very beginning of his realization that Cauterize and Kid Flash had seemingly disappeared.

But they had not disappeared. In fact, they were almost in the exact same spot they had been before.

Not that Scalpel, or any of the Titans' eyes could see them.

You see, as mentioned, Scalpel was just beginning to open his mouth…and in this state we now see, he appeared to be locked in that motion, his lips just beginning to part. If one stood still and watched his mouth in this state, Scalpel might have actually completed the motion…after about a day or so.

Just to give you an idea of the speed.

After Kid Flash had spoken, the two Speed Force users had looked at each other for about another second of normal, human time…and then around them, everything began to slow…and slow…and slow…

And then Cauterize was right next to Kid Flash, slashing out a sword.

Through the spot where Kid Flash's head had been. To the Titans this was so fast not only did the Titans not see it the general area didn't even register it had happened. As I mentioned, swinging a sword so quick it ignites the air is fast. Swinging a sword so quick the air never even knows its there…that's FAST.

And even at this peak of velocity…we do not see Kid Flash's head move. One moment, a moment so small even most advanced supercomputers would have trouble properly measuring it, his head is where it is…and then the next moment it is somewhere else, away from the blade, and his eyes slightly narrowed.

Cauterize's expression is more vague due to the helmet, but we, the esteemed viewers of this battle…could probably just make out a very small curling of his mouth.

And then the positions suddenly change again, instantly. Now Cauterize is arcing downward a bit, the arm holding his other sword now pointing it towards the ground, the area where Kid Flash had just been having been subjected to a mighty cleave…but it hit nothing, as Kid Flash is now in another position himself, about one and a half steps back, one leg slightly off the ground in the curled stance of interrupted movement, as the two share another look.

Blur. Cauterize reappeared, his first sword stabbed out where Kid Flash's head had just been, said head now cocked a bit to the side to get away from the blade. Kid Flash looked grave.

And Cauterize looks strangely…amused.

And then the onslaught began, as Cauterize began slashing like a madman, his body disappearing in a blur, hundreds, thousands of slashes (though come to think of it, if we can see them like this, Cauterize has actually SLOWED DOWN). It was the same Ginsu treatment that Cauterize had subjected the Pranker to, and we all remember what happened there. But the Pranker was just a nut in makeup. Kid Flash is not, and as a result his own body is a blur as well, dodging, ducking, and slipping away from every single slice and dice. The two forms move slowly (in this state, anyway) back down the street. How many attacks does Cauterize make all together? It could be measured in the millions.

What matters, in the end, is that none of them connect, and as Cauterize slashes both swords in an X shape, the blow dodged as Kid Flash jumps back, ever so slightly, and the vigilante looks up at the yellow costumed teen as he is still in the air, and he knows.

Kid Flash lands, and then the tide has turned, as he blitzes forward and begins firing off punches and kicks, in the same style Cauterize had just utilized, as Cauterize completed the role reversal, though he does far more blocking then dodging, catching the blows on his swords' flats and hilts, Kid Flash too alert to actually punch the blades, the battle going back the way it had just gone, the orange blur meeting the red and black blur, neither side giving an inch, as Kid Flash attacked and attacked and attacked and found that Cauterize's guard was as seemingly impenetrable as his, as he fired off his latest blow, an uppercut…

And found nothing there, as Cauterize was again mimicking his move and jumping backward, just a bit, just a tad, except he was not turning the tables back the same way it had been before, and Kid Flash knew it, as he stopped and jumped back himself, and the two Speed Force users each made a few more small leaps, putting some distance between them.

And then they lanced at each other, two beams of light streaking forward and colliding. To us, we see a gigantic, brilliant flash of light as they collide. To the Titans, they see a very brief flicker that none of them even notice.

The two blur back into reality on the opposite sides of where they had just been. There they stopped.

They stood for a bit.

And then they turned, looking at one another.

Kid Flash's costume split open at the right shoulder and side.

And blood began to trickle from Cauterize's suddenly open upper lip.

For a moment, in their own special time, the two continued to stare.

Cauterize slowly raised a blade…and then loosened his hand, letting the sword drop and slip downward to face the ground before the helmeted speedster tightened his grip again, and then he felt along his split lip and looked at the blood on his finger.

Kid Flash arched an eyebrow, as if confirming that yes, he did that.

"…Heh." Cauterize said. "Not bad."

And then Cauterize again pressed his finger against his lip, and a brief but insane period of acceleration followed, as Cauterize sped up his own tissue growth and knitted his lip back together.

"Not bad yourself." Kid Flash replied at this.

The two blazed at each other again, and we see a brief moment of Kid Flash dodging away from a double slash from Cauterize, and then a blur again, interrupted only by a succinct image of Cauterize ducking under a Kid Flash punch…and then they were off, as twin blurs of color shot all over the suburban neighborhood, unseen to all for they moved at a speed optical nerves could not process.

Perhaps it might have amused Terra if she knew that as her mouth was moving to form the word "Where", Cauterize and Kid Flash had already run past and around her several thousand times, as the two ran and dashed and spun and circled and zipped and zapped, each trying to hit the other and failing, our selves seeing occasional glimpses of a blade dodged around, or a kick slipped away from, or a punch blocked via another limb before the blocker slipped away to prevent another blow from being thrown.

In the space of a second, a war.

That ended when the two stopped, several streets away…and then both slipped out of the Speed Force state, returning to the real world.

Even as the Titans got another huge shock, as almost simultaneously everywhere the world seemed to go nuts. Slashes suddenly materialized in all kinds of places: grass lawns, house walls, the concrete road, the sides of cars, rooftops, everywhere. Windows and other glass and fragile partitions all suddenly shattered as once, the blows that had broken them well spaced about in one state of existence but not in this state. Car tires blew, doors fell off, dents appeared in the metal. A few cars exploded. Sheds and barbeques fell apart, sliced to pieces by seemingly invisible blades. No less then three streetlights suddenly keeled over, their light bulbs shattering upon the ground as their metal bases had been sliced clean through.

All the Titans could do was mostly gasp and react in fear to this craziness. Cauterize and Kid Flash ignored it, just looking at each other as the suburb around them fell apart.

Kid Flash cocked his head.

And Cauterize, though his helmet hid the movement of his eyes, glanced around a tad…and then he frowned as sounds of confusion, anger, fear and likewise began coming from all the houses around them, as the residents of Light City began waking up to this conflict.

The frown deepened.

Then his form blurred, and then refocused within a second.

And in that second all the human noise stopped, cut off like a switch. Kid Flash's eyes widened at this: did he actually…?

"Moved them all out of the way." Cauterize said. Kid Flash relaxed.

"So…want to actually give up now, slowpoke?" The red hair teen taunted.

Cauterize just smirked.

And then his arms became a blur again as Cauterize brought his swords up and did a series of precise motions that manipulated the wind and fired it off in Kid Flash's direction like a blade, the wind altered into such a state it could slice through steel, much less flesh and blood.

Kid Flash dodged it.

But that attack was not the move itself. It was just the beginning, as Cauterize threw open the throttle and his arms blurred around him, and dozens upon dozen of wind blades fired off at Kid Flash, slicing through everything in their way.

The Titans were just recovering from the shock of watching all of Kid Flash/Cauterize's actions finally happen (in their perception anyway) when another loud noise sounded off in the distance.

"What the…" Savior said, but even as he spoke Terra had yanked a chunk of concrete out of the ground under her and was rising up to take a look, as Savior tossed up a Shimmer strand and pulled himself up to see what was making the noise as well. It was pretty obvious: off in the distance, houses were collapsing, explosions ringing through the air as gas and propane tanks blew.

"THERE!" Savior yelled, as he reached down and scooped up Scalpel, as Beast Boy became an eagle and flew up, and the four started heading over to the battle site, even as more destruction erupted from the area.

And in said area, Cauterize finally stopped, as the houses around him sagged, and one actually collapsed. Dust plumed out, enveloping the teen.

A quick blast of wind, this kind not altered to cut, quickly blew it away…revealing Kid Flash standing before Cauterize, his feet balancing on the multitude of lines Cauterize had carved into the street below him, his arms crossed and his expression amused.

"Come on." Kid Flash said.

We don't see the trip: we just see the slash as Cauterize dashed over to Kid Flash and sliced for his head, and the dodge as Kid Flash zipped away and then back in and around, thrusting a foot at Cauterize's back, but Cauterize dodged that, leaping into the air in a backflip and slashing his sword while upside down at Kid Flash's chest, a slash dodged around again as Kid Flash moved towards Cauterize's front and snapped off a right hook, a hook stopped by the flat of Cauterize's other sword as he landed and slashed his first sword down, trying to cleave Kid Flash in half; Kid Flash spun away from the attack, at the same time swinging out his fist in a backhand, even as Cauterize blended his attack into his defense, ducking down under the spinning blow, even as he twists the sword in his other hand, drawing the blade away, because the area is too small for a proper blow with his sword but there's just enough room for his fist…

As one of the two finally proves to be too slow, as Cauterize rammed his fist into Kid Flash's gut.

The wave of force from the blow, to the Titans, nearly knocks them all over, as the two drop out of their Speed Force state, Kid Flash sliding backwards across the carved up street like it was as slick as ice, stopping just as his body finally registered the blow, the air forced out of his lungs, as Kid Flash fell on one knee with a gasp, breathing hard.

Slowly, Cauterize stood up from his kneeling position, readjusting his swords, as he looked upon his foe.

"Is that on enough?" He replied.

His name is Elijah Versaw.

He is the son of a foolish weak dreamer and a woman who had been cursed to bear the brunt of other's sins and failings. For those failings, he sought out a solution. When he found it, he planned it out down to the minutest detail. For it, he slew hundreds and felt nothing. And why would he? They were human scum, parasites who fed on human misery, his mothers' included. He did this because there was no other way. No law or so-called hero could help his city any more. It had sank too deep for that, the rot burrowed into the very heart of the once happy and prosperous town. It needed to be cut out by the roots.

He was that blade.

And he wasn't going to let others decide that his choices had been bad. It was their choices that forced his. He would not be punished by their failings.

No matter what.

He is Elijah Versaw, he is Cauterize, a master of the Speed Force.

He knew how to run.

"Surely child…" Cauterize said to the still recovering Kid Flash…

As he disappeared. To the still approaching Titans, they never saw the change in position: as before, one moment Kid Flash was on one knee and Cauterize was in front of him.

And the next Cauterize was behind Kid Flash, having yanked him back to his feet, his sword at the yellow clad teen's throat.

"You don't suspect that I was giving it my all in these beginning moments." Cauterize said.

Kid Flash didn't reply.

As a brief blur of color occurred…and suddenly the positions were reversed, Kid Flash now behind Cauterize, his arm wrapped around the vigilante's throat, and though his helmet hid it, Cauterize's eyes widened.

"Surely, killer, you don't suspect the only reason you touched me is because I let you." Kid Flash said.

Cauterize let his action serve as his reply, as he lanced an elbow back at Kid Flash's face, Kid Flash blurring away and slashing off a roundhouse side kick, a kick Cauterize blocked with his other arm, as he stabbed his still held sword at Kid Flash's throat, as Kid Flash dodged that, ducked around Cauterize's side, and fired off a punch to his kidneys, a blow that brushed off Cauterize's body as he both spun away and slashed the sword held in his right hand in a decapitating move towards Kid Flash's head, a blow Kid Flash did a Matrix dodge away from and then snapped back up as he fired off a punch towards Cauterize's face…as Cauterize finished his spin, having twisted his sword downward again, as he punched with his left hand.

End result: the two punched each other in the face at the same time.

The blow rang out through the air, as both sides staggered back, Kid Flash clutching the side of his face, Cauterize doing the same to his helmet.

A long crack ran along the dark glass.

"Heh." Kid Flash said.

"Hmmmmm." Cauterize replied, as the Titans finally closed in.

And then the two Speed Force users were gone.

The Titans stopped dead.

"Now where did they…" Savior began.

A loud bang sounded off in the distance, towards the city, and the Titans all looked in that direction. But no sooner had they started turning towards the sound then another boom sounded in a completely different direction: closer and about 140 degrees to the Titans's right. They just got to look in that direction when another boom sounded behind them.

"Terra, go higher!" Savior ordered, and Terra obeyed, flying up higher and higher until they got a bird's eye view of the city.

And the four Titans couldn't help but stare as two streaks of color twisted and turned and flew all over the streets, suburbs, and outsides of Light City, zipping around the mass so quickly the Titans had trouble following them with their eyes, as Cauterize and Kid Flash fought in a battle that was about 2 parts fighting and 8 parts race, for no good Speed Force user could ever really resist turning a fight, man's oldest sport, with a fellow into a race, man's second oldest sport, as the two dashed and zapped all over and around Light City.

Impulse dodged a twin downward arced slashed on Stephen Pierce's lawn.

Cauterize ducked away from a punch on the steps of Light City's closed mint.

Impulse leapt away from a stab on the track of Light City High.

Crossed swords blocked a kick next to the demolished smokestack in the Light City chemical plants.

A slick twist avoided an upward slash in the cornfields outside Light City.

A right hook to the face was avoided on top of the building that had been used to launch Geoffrey Tercero to his doom.

And twin beams of blazing color zapped down either side of said building, crossed back and forth several times across the face of Light City several times, and then met dead center in Light City's center, a giant wave of force slamming out as the twin beams collided, knocking down everything that wasn't nailed down, including people and some cars.

The two speedsters were revealed, Cauterize's swords crossed in front of him, Kid Flash holding onto their hilts, as both struggled to shove the weapons towards their target and away from their being, a struggle that was getting nowhere, as the two stared at each other and the Titans stared from above.

"Not enough room here." Kid Flash said.

"Agreed." Cauterize replied.

The two broke apart, and then collided in a massive blur of slashes, punches, kicks, and strikes, a war of blows that sent off a giant windstorm in the street, blowing more stuff over, and then, just before the Titans began to drop down to help, the two disappeared, twin streaks of color blitzing off in one direction, running off into the horizon so fast two of the Titans didn't even see them go.

Savior did though, and he stared off into the distance where the two had run.

"……..Well, I guess we wait until they come back." Savior said.

Somewhere in North Carolina…

"WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL BLISTERING RUBBER EVENT WE CALL THE OMEGARACE!" A voice boomed over loudspeakers in the fairly large arena in which a racing track, surrounded by a large crowd, was positioned. "Get ready for speed, speed, speed! You've never seen anything move this fast before! Ne…"

And as the syllable hung in the air, being drawn more and more out, twin blurs of color zipped into the arena and blasted all over the blast, going up the track, into the stands, down onto the track, back and forth, up into the stands, back unto the track, and then an even faster blur around the whole thing until the two blasts of color zapped back out.

"Ver!"

A gigantic storm of confections and other stand sold treats exploded outward as popcorn boxes, hot dogs, sodas, nachos, and of course beers were all torn from people's hands by an intense wind. Down on the track, lined up racecars suddenly jerked as their tires blew, their windshields shattered, and parts of their bodies fell off. In one case, a driver found his entire car disintegrating around him, until he was left sitting in his seat clutching the steering wheel.

And in the announcing booth, the announcer, not aware that his toupee had been knocked askew and was now dangling off his head, jerked back at the sudden chaos, and then blinked and looked at the abrupt change that had been wrought in his stadium. He turned to his co-host, who looked equally stunned.

"What happened?" The co-host asked.

"I don't know…went too fast…"

And then, with a feedback squawk followed by a resounding crash, the stand on which the megaphone the announcer had been announcing from tipped over and crashed down, severed at its base.

Gotham City.

"Well, looks like the old song and dance is about to play out again, eh Batsy?" Said the man. Tall, rather thin, and dressed in a green outfit covered with black question marks, we know who this is: Edward Nygma, known to most as the Riddler.

Batman glared at his foe, the bodies of Riddler's on and off personal female bodyguards, Quiz and Query lying unconscious at his feet. They didn't matter: what mattered was the Riddler, standing but a dozen feet away, hands firmly clenched onto his question mark cane, his green bowler hat perched perfectly on his head, looking contently at Batman…while behind him, in an elaborate deathtrap Riddler had wheeled out of the warehouse while Batman was taking care of his goons, were three people, two men and a women, tied up and gagged, looking at Batman with fearful, pleading eyes.

Batman didn't like this situation. He knew for certain only one thing that would happen: Riddler would give him a riddle. What Batman didn't know was what would happen if he solved it. Oh, he was fairly certain he would: Riddler wouldn't be giving him a complicated trigonometry problem to solve in five seconds, no. He was the Riddler, not the Mathematician. But what was the Riddler's angle? Would he let the people go if Batman solved it? Would he kill them? Would it be some kind of multi-faceted answer that would make the Riddler condemn one of his prisoners to death depending on how Batman answered it? Or would it be something else? In any case, Batman knew the attack option wasn't open to him at the moment: as fast he could hurl a Batarang, Riddler could press a button faster.

No, he did not like this situation, and Riddler knew it, as he smiled, completely knowing his part in this game, and eager to play it out. Just for ONCE, he was going to stump the blasted Bat.

"Very well, let us continue as it always goes! Riddle me this, Batma…"

The blast of wind came out of nowhere, a huge gust that nearly blew Batman over, and as his eyes widened at this sudden change he saw the Riddler go flying with a surprised and alarmed yell, his cane flying from his fingers as he was tossed heads over heels through the air and slammed into the wall of the warehouse a few dozen feet away, back first and upside down, at which point he fell head first into a pile of rotting trash bags. For a moment, the cane hung in the air…then fell.

Right into Batman's black gloved hand. Having grabbed it, he carefully turned it over, looking for any mechanisms that would trigger the trap. Finding none, he laid the cane down and quickly headed over to the deathtrap to free the prisoners. He encountered no difficulty in doing so, and as soon as they were free he headed over to the Riddler.

He wasn't going anywhere: the blow had knocked him stupid. But as Batman stood above the green suited lunatic, his ears beginning to catch sirens, he thought he could hear the Riddler muttering about what the hell had happened.

And now that Batman had time to think about it…what had just happened?

He arched an eyebrow for a second, then grimaced slightly. Provided by Nygma or not, he didn't like riddles.

As Kid Flash and Cauterize zapped on, continuing their battle, having been so wrapped up in each other they hadn't even noticed they'd helped Batman save some lives.

Somewhere in Detroit…

What a cliché it was, really. An overloaded woman, her arms heavy with more bags she really should not have been carrying, trying to get a baby carriage up the stairs of a public building. You would think some people would help her…except that she was slightly colored. Perhaps it was a good tan, or perhaps she was mulatto…but whatever she was, she did not appear Caucasian. And while it didn't speak well of the man on the street these days, these days a lot of people just weren't very trusting. Maybe you can't blame them…but you can't help but notice as well.

Perhaps the fact that it was so cliché should have PREVENTED any tragedy from happening.

No.

The woman lost her grip just before she got her carriage up the last step of the first series of them, her sweaty hands slipping off the holding brace. So deep was her shock that the carriage had actually slid down a few steps before she started screaming, and to show some hope for the average person, they noticed that, seeing the carriage start to tumble down the stairs…

But none of them were close enough to help, though some tried mightily, running for the baby carriage as it bounced down the short flight of stairs, the baby inside starting to fuss at the ruckus…as the carriage rolled across the short length of sidewalk, bounced down onto the street, and rolled out onto said street…

Just in time for a car rushing to get through a yellow light to crash into it.

No one should ever have to hear the sound the mother made when she saw the car, two tons of metal, crash into the baby carriage, maybe 50 pounds of metal and plastics, and shatter the mobile holding cart like it was made of glass, the car braking to a stop as the parts scattered all over the street, as people gasped in shock and horror and the woman screamed and screamed and…

And then a blur of color solidified near here.

"Miss!" Cauterize said. "It's ok. I got him."

The woman looked in shock at this figure who had literally materialized from nowhere…and then she realized he was holding a little white bundle from which her baby was beginning to cry from the noise.

She snatched him away from Cauterize even as he began to offer the baby, crying in relief. Cauterize didn't wait around for thanks: the next second he was gone, picking up his swords as he dashed off.

It didn't take him long to find Kid Flash, standing a few blocks away.

"Wondered why you suddenly changed directions." He said.

"I'd say it was a good reason."

"I could have punched you in the back you know."

"You wouldn't have."

"No, guess I'll have to settle for the face." Kid Flash said, and then blasted at Cauterize again. Cauterize spun away from the punch and slashed at Kid Flash's arm: it was dodged, and then the two streaks blasted away again, going back and forth through Detroit a few times before firing off into the horizon, much to the confusion of a few people on tall skyscrapers who happened to be looking down.

"Say Elijah, don't tell me you're shown me all you can do!" Kid Flash said as the two ran, almost beside each other as they sized up their next attack.

"Please!" Cauterize retorted.

"Oh good, because I'm done dogging it!" Kid Flash replied, and then his already rapidly moving form sped up even more, leaving Cauterize behind. Behind his helmet, Cauterize's eyes widened, and then he growled and opened his own throttle even more…and trying not to admit that doing so was bringing a feeling to his body he hadn't felt in years.

Weariness.

The Titans had headed back to the suburbs after the two speedsters had left, just to be sure no one was trapped in the wreckage of the battle. It hadn't taken long for police cars to show up, but Savior had ignored their questions, telling them to help with the searching. For some reason, the cops listened to him.

About ten minutes after the exit stage left of the speedsters, a long black limousine pulled up. Savior had been waiting for that car, as it had been apparent during the last three minutes that there was no one in any of the wrecked houses. Well, and the fact that Savior kept overhearing on the radios the police had that a large group of people had suddenly, magically appeared in front of the police station. As soon as the car was pulling up, Savior hopped over to the vehicle.

The chauffer got out, perhaps due to habit of opening the door for the previous occupant, but he needn't have done so, as the door opened on its own and the new Mayor of Light City, Roman Fernendez stepped out.

"Mayor." Savior said.

"Savior." Roman replied, looking around the mess. "Thought you were going to leave."

"Something came up." Savior replied.

"Yeah, I gathered." Roman said. "Well, I may as well be blunt…"

And that was as far as Roman got as the door on the opposite of the limousine finally opened. The voice came before the appearance.

"…THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" Garry Turnquist roared as he stepped out. He quickly spied Savior. "YOU! You said this was over! What the hell just happened!" The new police chief yelled as he walked around the limo.

"Toby Garigen wasn't Cauterize. He was framed." Savior said. Roman looked alarmed at this information: Turnquist just looked madder.

"Figures. Who was it?" The large black man asked.

"You remember William Versaw?" Savior replied.

"What? Battlin' Bill? He…can't…he…disappeared…and…" Turnquist trailed off as Savior's sentence allowed him to put together all the floating pieces he had had in his own head. "Oh god. My god. It all makes sense."

"What? Who was it?" Roman asked.

"Detective Chesbro figured it out too. He actually beat us here. I think he might have more information then we do. He's getting medical treatment over there." Savior said, pointing to an ambulance that was parked down the road.

"He did? Well…I'd better see if I can debrief him then." Turnquist said as he turned and headed over for the ambulance. Roman Fernendez stayed there, still looking confused.

"Who was it?" He repeated.

Savior told him, laying out as much of the story as he could within a minute.

"My god…" Roman said. "It was that kid who interviewed Tercero?"

"Yeah."

"But…I had nothing to do with him! I swear! I never…!"

"I know." Savior replied. "I know."

"Oh. Good." Roman said, relaxing after he had begun to panic again. "So…where is Cauterize?"

"We couldn't fight him. We never could. So we called another speedster. It's up to him now." Savior said, looking off at the horizon. "Oh, and Mr. Mayor, you might want to get the police to clear the streets. For speedsters, the world is their battleground…but I have a feeling it's going to end where it began."

Somewhere in New Mexico. An isolated military base.

The guard at the entrance was lying at the foot of his chair, having never seen what was coming. Kid Flash checked his pulse: strong. He'd just been knocked out.

The guards at the entrance of the actual base were knocked out as well: Kid Flash checked just to be sure. He glanced up, looking around.

The fight with Cauterize had continued across the United States, crossing cities and landmarks…and Kid Flash knew that he had the edge. Cauterize was fast, and he was skilled…but Kid Flash was faster. They'd only landed about nine more blows on each other since they had left Detroit, but six of those blows had been Kid Flash's.

That probably explained why Cauterize had suddenly cut out and dashed away when they had been traveling to wherever they went next during their fight. The sudden fleeing was so surprising to Kid Flash that he didn't give pursuit until a few seconds had passed…which was enough time for Cauterize to make some distance…straight to this military base.

Did he know it was here? Or had it been blind luck? Whatever the case, Kid Flash was certain Cauterize hadn't been trying to run away.

Kid Flash blurred through several rooms. Nothing but more unconscious soldiers.

"Elijah!" He yelled. "I know you're here! And I know you're not the type to cower! Come on! I'm sure you have a fair amount of gas left in your tank!"

No answer. Kid Flash zipped through a few more rooms. Nothing.

"Elijah!" Kid Flash yelled. Damn it, did he have to REALLY crank up the throttle and go through all the rooms before…

A slight sound.

Kid Flash was in the room about 0.00000000000032 of a second after his ears had heard the noise…only to find it had been the sound of yet another knocked out soldier. When he had lost consciousness, he had slumped against the wall, but eventually he had slid to his side. It had been that sound Kid Flash had heard, as he looked at the four soldiers lying on the ground in front of him…in front of the large door that had been almost entirely torn off its hinges, revealing a dark room…

Cauterize stepped from within the murk. He no longer had his swords. Instead, he had a large machine gun slung over his shoulder.

The two looked at each other.

And then Kid Flash snickered.

"Come ON Elijah." Kid Flash said. "Surely you don't think I can't dodge a bullet."

"No, I think you can dodge a bullet." Cauterize replied.

There was something wrong with his face, Kid Flash thought. His damn helmet made it really unclear what, but there was something there…something about the look...

And it clicked for Kid Flash. Cauterize wasn't looking AT him. He was looking past him.

Kid Flash turned around…

And saw the pile of guns. The absolutely gigantic pile of guns, nearly twice as big as Kid Flash was…

The guns that were no longer in a pile. The guns that were now all around the large room they were in, completely surrounding the teen, all the weapons floating in mid air, seemingly, as Cauterize materialized, briefly, back in the spot where he had just been, his firearm now pointed right at Kid Flash.

"Can you dodge a million?" Cauterize said.

All the guns opened fire simultaneously, or so it seemed, as Cauterize blurred around the room, going from gun to gun in a random, circular pattern, all of them firing at Kid Flash, who realized that Cauterize had been holding back more then a bit too, as he slipped into a Speed Force state and still found that by then nearly twenty guns had been fired at him, the bullets coming from all angles…

Kid Flash's problem wasn't speed, it was the fact that he didn't have eyes on the back of his head, as he started to dodge, bullets slipping past his arms, legs, head, torso, but even for him, there were so many, and no sooner did he try and slip deeper into his state then he spied another bullet or bullets that were just about to make contact and he had to dodge those, robbing him of the precious moment he would need to slow the world down even more so that dodging the bullets would be cake. If only he'd STAYED in a Speed Force assisted state when he'd gone into the room, but Kid Flash, though he was learning, wasn't quite patient enough to go everywhere like that, even if it might protect him…and now it might get him killed…

Guns began dropping to the ground, as their ammo ran dry, but there were still scores of them and Cauterize kept the onslaught up. He didn't expect to kill Kid Flash, but he hoped that he might just be able to do a little damage, just a little, to give him an edge…

There were so many bullets in the air that the guns themselves were being hit due to the massive circular crossfire Cauterize had set up around Kid Flash, and even Cauterize found himself needing to dodge a few of his own bullets. But he didn't let up, didn't stop, as the two forms stayed in a constant state of blur, as more and more and more guns ran empty or were shot by their brothers, until it was down to twenty, fifteen, ten, five, three, two…one, a handgun, with Cauterize standing in front of Kid Flash and emptying the last clip at him, as Kid Flash did one final set of dodges.

Then silence, as Kid Flash finally stopped, lowering his arms, panting slightly as he grinned at Cauterize, who grimaced and tossed the last empty gun aside.

"Heh. You missed."

"Did I?" Cauterize replied.

And then Kid Flash felt pain at his side, and he looked down to see a small crease just above his left hip, blood running out. One shot. One shot had grazed him.

That wasn't so bad.

What was bad was the fact that while Kid Flash was feeling the pain and instinctively checking it, Cauterize zapped across the room and floored him with a powerful punch.

Remember that part about concentration being needed for Speed Force states? Well, this was one time where one's concentration might be a tad bit lacking.

Albeit not enough that Kid Flash didn't tap the Speed Force at all: if that had been the case his head would have been knocked off. No, it was tapped…just not enough to avoid the blow, as he flew across the room and slammed against the metal wall, the back of his banging against the partition. Stars exploded in his vision.

They didn't last, as Kid Flash frantically tried to clear the cobwebs. His vision finally returned…just in time for Kid Flash to get a close up of Cauterize's boot heel.

For a moment anyway.

The heel slammed against the wall as Kid Flash dodged away, and Cauterize was forced to retreat as Kid Flash fired off an elbow at his knee, barely avoiding a dislocation. Before even Cauterize knew it though, Kid Flash was up and attacking, assaulting Cauterize with thousands of punches. Cauterize blocked and dodged easily at first…but then he began to notice that the blows were starting to come even faster…and faster…and then one was slamming into his chest. He staggered back in shock, but managed to duck before the roundhouse kick cleaved for his head. He continued going down, sweeping his leg out at Kid Flash's ankles, but Kid Flash leapt away, doing several backflips before landing and lancing back at Cauterize, who had retreated several steps. Cauterize dodged away from the punch to his face, slipped by the knee aimed at his gut, and spun around Kid Flash as he tried to counter by backhanding the side of the yellow teen's head, but Kid Flash blurred away, zipping around Cauterize and firing off a punch towards his open flank.

Cauterize caught it, barely, and the two glared at each other as they again struggled for dominance.

"What's wrong? Too quick for you?" Kid Flash asked.

The headbutt was powerful, Cauterize slamming his head forward and smashing the helmet against Kid Flash's face, reminding the teen that the exact truth of who was faster was yet to be discovered.

Kid Flash staggered back, and then righted himself. While he was reacting, Cauterize had retrieved his swords.

"You know, guns are overrated. Give me a good blade any day." Cauterize said.

Those good blades carved a swath in the wall where Kid Flash had just been, even as Kid Flash kicked for Cauterize's back and found the vigilante zipping away, and then the two blasted out of the empty weapons room, past all the empty guns on the floor, and out of the military base, the race back on and redoubled in intensity.

A Californian beach.

The typical beach scene: girls in bikinis, surfers, kids running around being somewhat if not mostly ignored by their parents, people walking around who some might say should not have taken their shirts off. Swimming, tanning, building sand castles.

And a volleyball game.

The ball was served, returned, returned with an attempted spike, saved, bounced around a bit, attempted spike, save, returned…and as the ball swung down a yellow blur zipped down around the cars, onto the beach, and leapt up to spike the ball harder then it ever could be spiked, the ball turned from object of a game to deadly projectile as it flew over the net…and met a black blade, the ball slicing in half before the material burst into flame and vanished totally before the eyes of the shocked players.

"Hey! You broke our fucking ball!" One of the larger males growled…and then he got a good look at Cauterize as he lifted his long black katana from the slash and glared at the beach bum, the tanned volleyball player's reflection sliding across his cracked helmet.

"Shut up or I'll break YOU." Cauterize snarled.

Whether Cauterize would have was lost to time, as Kid Flash was suddenly there, firing off more punches, and the players realized that perhaps it might be in their better interests if they left. Which they did. Screaming and yelling.

Not that that was needed as a warning to the other beachgoers: Cauterize and Kid Flash were kicking up so much sand that people saw them coming a hundred feet away…when they could, as sometimes the clouds of sand would vanish and then reappear some distance away, streaks of glass marking these passings. The beach dissolved into chaos as people ran for the parking lot or into the water to get out of the way.

Cauterize zapped away from an uppercut, grabbed a nearby beach umbrella, closed it, charged it with kinetic energy, and hurled it at Kid Flash like a spear. Kid Flash dodged under it…and saw that Cauterize had already run behind him, caught the umbrella, and was hurling it at him again.

This time, Kid Flash caught it.

"No projectiles. Innocent pe…" The teen said as he dropped the umbrella.

The punch slammed into Kid Flash's gut and drove the wind out of him.

"Should have just said 'No projectiles.'" Cauterize replied, and lanced his elbow down for the top of Kid Flash's head. Kid Flash whirled away, ducked under the follow up kick, dodged the follow up slash, and then fired off several dozen of his own punches, which Cauterize blocked, then dashed away from the roundhouse…and got caught by the follow up dash punch, sending him sliding backwards across the sand. Kid Flash followed with a double fist punch, blocked by Cauterize's blades, as Cauterize shoved Kid Flash back. Their forms blurred as they zapped back and forth across the beach, yellow and black zig-zags that occasionally collided and kicked up a huge sand cloud.

Oh yes, remember how I said everyone had run away?

Not everyone.

As Cauterize dodged away from another punch, doing a loop motion in his backwards run, and Kid Flash reminded him that the closest distance between two points is the straight line as he dashed forward and floored Cauterize with a punch…

And also ran straight through an oblivious kid's sand castle, the kid freezing in shock as his elaborate structure exploded into so much dust.

Kid Flash dodged away from Cauterize after the blow to ensure he didn't get stabbed…and then became aware of the crying. He glanced behind him and down at the bawling kid.

Suddenly feeling like a louse, he turned to help…and then he immediately realized he was acting like his old name and turned around. But Cauterize was still getting up. And the kid was still crying. Kid Flash glanced back and forth…

Well, he was faster, right?

The bawling kid didn't see much…just a yellow blur in front of him as his sandcastle suddenly reappeared, grew larger…and then shone brilliantly as Kid Flash converted all the sand into glass via friction.

"There you go kid!" Kid Flash said, and whirled around…

Cauterize was standing there, swords down, waiting.

"You're surprised?" Cauterize asked at the fact that he hadn't hit Kid Flash while his back was turned.

"Somewhat."

"Don't be."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kid Flash finished, and blitzed at Cauterize, the two becoming enmeshed in another war of blows, while the kid gazed in wonder at his glass castle…at least until his frantic mother finally managed to get over to him and drag him away.

She was among the last of the parents: the second trouble showed up all the older people who had brought kids had gotten out of Dodge. The teenagers and single people, however, had not…as the fact that the battle was staying on the beach, not to mention that, when it was visible, it was insanely cool, eventually made them all cluster near one end on the grassy bluffs and parking lot above the beach, watching the fight as it moved, slowly, across the sands, kicking up massive clouds of grains that were fortunately for the viewers blown into the ocean.

Near a lifeguard chair, on which a lifeguard was actually still perched, albeit standing on his chair and wondering what to do as he looked down at the warring figures, the crowd actually started to cheer.

"Go get 'em Yellow!"

"Kick his ass Black!"

"I have ten bucks on Black!"

"Forget it, Black has swords, go Yellow!"

Can you believe this? Kid Flash thought as he continued his fight…and as he dodged away from another slash, he decided to take it elsewhere, as it zapped back the way he had come, Cauterize following him.

And the crowd actually started running to head over to where the two speedsters had gone.

They got about 2/3 of the way there when Kid Flash and Cauterize zapped back the other way, and the crowd abruptly stopped and began running back to where they had been. They made it and resumed their cheering for the several seconds before the figures zapped farther along the beach, the crowd following after them.

They were just arriving when one of Cauterize's missed attacks slashed into the ground and sent a huge wave of sand flying up, and the crowd yelled as they were bombarded in it, as the sand ruined suntan lotion and got in a few people's eyes.

"Hey!" Kid Flash said, as Cauterize turned back to face him after that missed attack. "There's too many people here! Let's go someplace where there aren't any people!"

"Again, agreed." Cauterize replied.

And then the two figures were gone, some of the crowd managing to see their twin beams of color zap off onto the Pacific Ocean and off into the distance, disappearing.

Despite their discomfort, the crowd complained and awwweed that their entertainment had left, as they milled about for a bit and then actually returned to the beach, a lot of them picking up the glass tracks the two speedsters had made for souvenirs.

Somewhere in Chinese waters.

The lookout, as per his job, first saw the strange water happenings, and within two minutes the entire crew of the large fishing boat was out watching. It rather looked like whales ejecting water through their blowholes…except that it was much larger and in neat rows. The crew talked among themselves, wondering what this strange phenomenon was, while one crewmember had retrieved his camcorder and was recording the event.

The line water eruptions were of course, Cauterize and Kid Flash, as they dashed back and forth on the water, their speed in a state where they send off waves of force that caused the water around them to plume upward. The two didn't much notice: they were too busy trying to land blows on each other, and besides they had caused this effect straight across the Pacific, so it wasn't all that impressive to them, as they zapped back and forth and around and past each other.

The Chinese, having determined that this strangeness didn't seem harmful (it was making some large waves, but nothing their boat couldn't handle) actually began to ohhh and ahhh at this display, like it was a firework show.

At least until the lines converged and four sets of exploding water lines started heading for their boat.

The crew began to jabber at each other as the lines approached, and then panic took over as everyone tried to get out of the way and hold on…until the lines split, going around the boat and past it, and the fear turned back to wonder as the fisherman ran to the other side and watched the lines disappear off into the distance, some of them laughing like children.

Later, the man who had recorded the event would sell the tape for a fair amount of money and use it to send his children to study at American schools, where they became a lawyer and a archeologist.

Just in case you were curious.

The lines continued until they hit the China mainland and went up on it. On a new continent, the race/battle continued.

The Himalayas.

Cauterize ran up and around some cliff faces and stopped on a large bluff. Slipping out of the Speed Force state, he leaned over and took a few deep breaths. And he wasn't faking this time.

This was not good. Despite his endless training, Cauterize was beginning to realize that Kid Flash's natural ability did indeed exceed his own. And if that was the case…no, Elijah wouldn't think of it. He couldn't lose. He wouldn't. If he lost, they'd take him and judge him for what he had to do and lock him up, and he'd be DAMNED if he was punished…

And then Cauterize whirled, getting the sword up at the very last instant as Kid Flash slammed his fist into it. A giant bang rang through the air at the impact.

Breathing heavily, the two once again looked at each other, both knowing how close that was, and what it meant.

"That was only this much Elijah." Kid Flash said, raising a thumb and forefinger and measuring a small amount of distance between the two. "And it's getting smaller. You can see it. I know you can. The only question is what you plan to do about it."

Cauterize snorted, and then shoved Kid Flash away, getting into a stance, his swords at the ready.

"Fine. But I don't usually give second chances Elijah. I'd say an honorable surrender would be better then a humiliating defeat."

"I won't lose."

And then a loud rumbling noise arose in the two teens' ears, and the ground began to shake beneath them. The two looked around a bit before realizing where they were and what loud noises could do in that kind of area.

"Look what YOU did." They both said at the same time.

A gargantuan amount of snow and rock broke from the mountain above and began crashing down the slopes, it's sheer mass dwarfing the two figures in its way. The two glanced at the avalanche as it approached…and then both disappeared in a blur before it struck.

The snow continued to pour down the side of the mountain…as Cauterize and Kid Flash reappeared on TOP of the rushing ice and rock, their figures briefly materializing as Cauterize dodged away from a punch. Then they disappeared again, reappearing as Kid Flash ducked under a stab that literally parted his hair, and then the blurs of color reappeared as the two battled back and forth across the top of the avalanche, zapping around and back and forth and finally upward, defying gravity as they ran up the rock side the snow had broken and was still falling from and continued on, going back and forth and around and around the peaks…

And finally both stopping at they both came to the same small area and realized there was nowhere left to run.

They were at the top of Everest.

The two blinked, looking around at where they were, and then Kid Flash raised his hands, forming them into a T-Shape.

"Time out?" He asked.

Cauterize arched an eyebrow, though Kid Flash couldn't see it due to his helmet.

"Can I have a few seconds? Please?" Kid Flash asked.

Cauterize stared, and then he shrugged and lowered his swords. Kid Flash took that as a yes, and then he zipped over to the edge and raised his arms.

"MADE IT MA! TOP OF THE WORLD!" He yelled.

Then he casually strolled back to where he had been standing.

"Always wanted to say that." He confided.

"Are you quite done?"

"Yeah I'm done."

"Good."

The two met in a crash of blades and fists, and the two assaulted each other for about seventeen seconds before both sides stared slowing down and then stopping, breathing heavily.

"May I now suggest…we go someplace where the air isn't so thin." Kid Flash gasped.

"Once again…I am in agreeance…with your suggestion." Cauterize replied.

The two blurred away, running straight down the mountain, around and down the crags around it, and blasted away and out of Tibet, the war continuing.

And on it went. The speedsters battled across the lengths of Russia for several minutes before they arrived in Europe, dashing back and forth across borders like the way lines do on maps when people need to be told where the characters are going in movies, going briefly out onto the Atlantic, crossing down through England and Ireland, ending back up in Denmark, and then zig-zagging back and south through the rest of Europe and into Africa, zapping around and through the many countries the Dark Continent had until it finally came to…

The Sahara Desert.

A large cactus split in half as a sword blow was again dodged, and Kid Flash retaliated with a punch that caught Cauterize across the face. He staggered away, and then he disappeared. So did Kid Flash, and a giant wave of force erupted from the ground two miles away as the two clashed again, Kid Flash dodging another few hundred sword slashes before he kicked Cauterize in the knee, and in the tiny moment where Cauterize could do not more then feel the pain he uppercutted him under the chin, this time sending him flying. He crashed down on the soft sand, bouncing once, spitting the dry grains out of his mouth as he tried to get up.

Kid Flash's fist stopped right in front of Cauterize's face. Cauterize's eyes widened…and then Kid Flash kicked him across the side of the head, sending him sliding across the sand.

"The only reason that punch didn't hit you is because I pulled it. You KNOW that Elijah." Kid Flash said, as he slipped out of the Speed Force and started walking to where Cauterize was trying to pull himself up, spitting out more sand that was tinged with red.

"My name…is Cauterize." Cauterize replied, though his usually calm, controlled tone was tinged with…what? Anger? Fear? Desperation?

"Fine. Here are the facts Cauterize. I'm faster then you. The ending of this battle started becoming evident back in the Netherlands. You're good, but I'm just better. I think you're smart enough to know that if this continues, all it will accomplish is ripping the hell out of your muscles before I take you in. That takes a bit to recover from Cauterize, even for us. Do you want to go to prison with your body so worn out it can't even control its own bowels? For the sake of your desires, which were at least a little noble, I'd rather spare you that indignity. But this is the last chance you get Cauterize."

Cauterize had stood during this little speech, and when it finished, he did not reply. Instead, he just stared at Kid Flash, his expression that irritating blank…

And then he rolled his shoulders, twirled his swords, and got in another combat stance.

"Better to fall into the dirt then to kiss it." Cauterize replied.

Kid Flash's eyes narrowed.

"Very well then."

The world began to alter the around the two, as each side again called on their power. But the end fact was that Kid Flash's well was deeper.

"I'll try and make it painless." Kid Flash said, and fired off at a speed even greater then the ones he had used before, even Cauterize wouldn't see him coming…

Only to find to his immense shock that Cauterize did indeed see him coming, and not just that, he was drawing back his arm and…

Cauterize swung out his arm and caught Kid Flash in the head and face via the crook his elbow formed between his forearm and upper arm, the blow knocking Kid Flash ass over elbows backwards into the air. As Cauterize slowly turned around, Kid Flash crashed down into the sand, gasping out a surprised breath.

"I don't really feel like sharing that distinction." Cauterize replied.

Kid Flash rolled away from Cauterize's stabbing sword and somersaulted backwards to a kneeling position, and his eyes widened as he found the other sword being thrown at him. It missed him, as he dashed away, but no sooner did he vanish then Cauterize had zapped over, grabbed his sword before it had even hit the ground, and dashed after Kid Flash. Kid Flash poured on the speed, trying to figure out what was going on. Had Cauterize been holding back…no! He had been sure that Elijah had hit his peak of speed and that his was greater! Then how…

Cauterize zapped past Kid Flash. The teen's eyes widened again.

Cauterize stopped dead.

Holding his sword out.

Kid Flash lost a chunk of his hair as he just managed to duck under the blow, his body actually stopping a foot afterward…and finding Cauterize's kick slamming into his chest, knocking him backwards.

Kid Flash rolled back with the impact, flipped to his feet, and blurred back to Cauterize, barraging him with punches. Every blow was blocked or dodged…and this time, it was clear that these weren't last moment defenses, some of which only succeeded because of luck. These were the blocks of…

The sword was stabbing for his head. Kid Flash's eyes widened again and he blurred away…

And found that that was just what Cauterize wanted, as he beat the Kid to his destination and intercepted Kid Flash's leg in mid run with his other sword. A bloody line appeared on Kid Flash's calf, and he yelled in pain and stopped, falling to one knee. It wasn't deep, but it hurt.

"I'm beginning to think your confidence might have been a tad bit…quick, wouldn't you say?"

The sword slashed for his head, and Kid Flash had no choice but to blur away…and his leg gave out on him, causing him to trip and take a tumble across the sands. He finally came a stop more then fifty feet away, not sure what hurt worse: the sand in his cut or the ringing in his head.

Cauterize was approaching in the distance, at a normal non Speed Force assisted pace, as Kid Flash rolled over and looked at his leg. Damn, it stung, and he couldn't just speed up the tissue regeneration: the sand would get stuck in the wound and it would become infected. But how could he clean it? He was in the middle of a desert, he had no water, and he couldn't clean it with his bare hands…

And then it came to him. Once, long ago, Kid Flash had read an entire library at super speed, and unlike his predecessors, he could REMEMBER anything he read at super speed. And he finally recalled some of the medical textbooks he had read…and he had an idea.

As Cauterize approached, Kid Flash carefully placed his hand over the wound…and then snarled through his teeth as he made a complicated series of hand motions.

A wind whirled up, a wind Kid Flash had to very carefully control, because if he wasn't careful he'd blown more sand into the wound. He didn't want it to blow, he wanted it to…suck. Which it did, as his manipulations created suction that managed to pull all the sand from the bloody gash…along with some blood and tissue. Kid Flash growled at the stab of pain in his leg, and then forced himself to ignore it as he utilized Cauterize's earlier technique, speeding up the blood clotting and the beginning stages of tissue regeneration. That would keep for now, but his leg was going to be tender for a bit…and that did not bode well for the battle.

Kid Flash got to his feet as Cauterize finished approaching.

"Well, you're up. Guess you're smarter then I thought." Cauterize said. "Now why don't you follow your own advice and surrender?"

"You can't be serious." Kid Flash replied.

"Oh I am. I've been nice so far Kid. I could have sliced your leg off."

"Screw you, you're bluffing. This was a shallow cut because all you could make was a shallow cut."

"Do you know that?"

No, he did not, but Kid Flash knew something was up, but he couldn't put his finger directly on it.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not giving up."

Cauterize cocked his head.

"It figures." He finally said. "I don't want to kill you Kid Flash. But I will not hesitate if that is the only way I can end this…"

Kid Flash decided he'd heard enough talk and dashed at Cauterize, his punch being blocked by Cauterize's metal gauntlet. Cauterize countered with a slash that Kid Flash ducked under, and then the two dissolved into a blurring shift of clashing colors, sand whirling up and blowing all around them, the two forms whipping up a mammoth sandstorm before they blitzed off, zapping back and forth as they battled.

And this time Kid Flash was getting the worst of it. His bum leg was hampering him, not to mention the fact that just when it seemed like he had Cauterize dead to rights he'd get one last little spurt of speed to escape the blow. Kid Flash KNEW there was some trick involved here, but figuring out what the trick was was proving as slippery as the times when you meet someone and suddenly blank on his or her name.

Except in this case, instead of embarrassment, that elusive detail might get him killed.

As Cauterize ducked under a punch and rammed his shoulder into Kid Flash's gut, shoving him backwards. Kid Flash glanced behind him and found he was about to get a back first introduction to a cactus, and he quickly zipped to the side before he got an unneeded acupuncture treatment…and Cauterize blitzed into him with a crashing right hook, sending him cartwheeling across the sand again.

What is he doing…Kid Flash thought as he righted himself and dodged away from another slash, ducked under a follow up, and started dodging away from a side kick…too slow, as he was struck in the chest and sent backwards across the sand again…and then on something a lot harder then sand. He bounced a few times on the harder substance, his mind confused at where he had ended up, and then he finally corrected his fall and got to his knees, staring down at the ground below him.

Glass. The sand had abruptly turned into glass, as far as the eye could see into the horizon. They had ended up the area that the Lord had destroyed with his Black Hole attack during the Final Night.

"GIVE UP!"

Kid Flash dashed away as Cauterize ran up and slashed, his sword carving a groove in the smooth, rolling ground…and Cauterize found himself slipping, just a bit, from the slickness of the glass. Kid Flash saw an opening and dashed forward…and found Cauterize's eyes finding him moments before his sword came up between Kid Flash's fist and his face.

"This…is….becoming…" Cauterize said…and then his foot slipped, just a bit…and Kid Flash dashed around Cauterize and punched him in the back, sending Cauterize flying this time. Cauterize flipped in mid air, landed…and almost lost his balance on the smooth glass.

Which allowed Kid Flash to dash forward and ram into him, shoulder first, carrying the vigilante backwards for a few hundred feet before he let him go. Cauterize continued backwards on the slick glass at high speed, just turning around, his eyes widening as he saw a tall, jagged pillar of crystal heading straight for him, or rather he was heading straight for it…until a onslaught of sword slashes reduced it to pieces.

As the semi-column collapsed around him, Cauterize both dodged away from the falling razor sharp shards and looked around for Kid Flash…

Who zipped in from the side…and whose fist was caught just before it hit Cauterize in the gut. Cauterize smirked.

"Still too slow." Cauterize said.

"Oh yes, it seems that way." Kid Flash replied. "But then again, its easier to appear faster then someone when one is stealing one's kinetic energy."

Cauterize's eyes widened.

And Kid Flash punched him across the face, sending him tumbling back across the glass fields. He finally slid to a stop and rolled up, glaring at Kid Flash.

"Thought you had me, didn't you? I have to admit, you were pretty good at it. You stole just enough so it looked like you were improving, rather then I was slowing down. But there's one problem with that technique Elijah. You have to see whatever you're slowing down. And when you couldn't see me…well, I could hit you. But all the same, well done. The fact that you can take kinetic energy just by looking shows how much you've mastered the Speed Force." Kid Flash said. One of Cauterize's swords was at his feet: he kicked it up to his hands and then tossed it back to Cauterize, who caught it.

"But I've seen better." Kid Flash said, and blitzed at Cauterize again. Cauterize tried the same trick…except this time it didn't work, because Kid Flash had thrown open his gates even wider, and even with the stolen kinetic power, it wasn't enough for Cauterize to dodge and counter. No, all he could do was block…and block, and block, as Kid Flash let loose another onslaught of blows, the fact that he'd finally seized on Cauterize's trick making his leg feel better, and to prove it, he kicked Cauterize in the chest with it as Cauterize tried to dodge away from his latest punch. He slid backwards again, and when he stopped it was clear: desperation was beginning to creep into his body language.

"Thinking you could have won if I hadn't clued in? No Cauterize. Not even that." Kid Flash said.

Cauterize disappeared. So did Kid Flash, and they reappeared with Kid Flash ramming in elbow into Cauterize's chin as he dodged another sword slash. Cauterize staggered back and fell to one knee.

"I would never have given in. You know why? Look around you." Kid Flash said, as he raised his arms and gestured. "You see this glass world? I was here when it was created Cauterize. I was part of the team that took down a dark god who wanted to destroy the Earth. I didn't surrender when I was faced with a power beyond my comprehension, I didn't surrender when he cut down my stronger friends like wheat before a scythe, and even when a power that is now lost to me backfired and I got to feel the sensation of being disintegrated without the peace of oblivion, I did not surrender! So if you honestly think I was going to give up because of your Speed Force trick, you got another thing coming. I didn't give up, and the Lord lost. As will you Cauterize. As will you."

"No." Cauterize said, as he started getting up. "No. No! NEVER!"

Kid Flash ducked under the double slash and rammed his fist into Cauterize's gut, driving the wind out of him. He stepped back from the wheezing vigilante.

"Yes. Yes you will Cauterize. It's just a matter of how quickly."

"I'll show you QUICKLY!" Cauterize yelled as he got up and went back on the attack.

Kid Flash dodged away from the stab, kneed Cauterize in the gut, and then backhanded him across the helmet, but as Cauterize spun from that blow he twirled his leg and slammed his heel into Kid Flash's chest. Spinning back up, he slashed repeatedly at the teen, missing every time, and then in a burst of rage he reared back and slashed out with both swords in a larger, more powerful cleave: it sliced through another glass pillar behind where Kid Flash had just been before the yellow clad teen slammed into Cauterize's side, knocking him across the glass again. Cauterize came to a stop against a glass wall, and then snapped his head to the side as Kid Flash's fist slammed into the glass, shattering it, as Cauterize got a leg up and kicked Kid Flash away, standing up. He blocked Kid Flash's punch with crossed swords and slashed them out in opposite directions: Kid Flash dodged and ran back through Cauterize's broken guard, slamming his fist across Cauterize's face. Cauterize staggered back a bit, and then yelled and went into a fury of sword slashes: Kid Flash dodged them all, and as the final set slashed the blades down and into the ground, Kid Flash leapt up, and almost in slow motion, twirled and slammed his leg out in a backwards leaping roundhouse, right into Cauterize's face, sending him flying right off his feet and crashing down onto his back.

More cracks spread across his helmet.

Kid Flash landed, breathing heavily. This wasn't without effort, as Kid Flash had to deal both with Elijah's own speed and his kinetic thievery…but even with those two powers, Kid Flash was just better.

And even with the helmet on, Kid Flash could see that Cauterize was fully realizing this as well, as he was standing up, looking at Kid Flash like he was Santa Claus, a figure believed to be a myth that had somehow become a reality.

"You can't win Elijah. Last, final chance. Surrender."

Cauterize finished standing up, swaying just a bit…and then his body tensed up. Kid Flash watched, as Cauterize looked at him a bit more…and then adjusted his position a bit. Kid Flash could hear the pops. The sign of someone loosening up.

He had figured it would be this, as Cauterize reached down and retrieved his swords.

"No." He finally said.

Kid Flash couldn't help it: he smirked a bit. The vigilante's resolve was unwavering. In part of his mind, Kid Flash mourned the fact that they had never discovered Elijah Versaw or the plight of his town before it was too late to change what Elijah had done. But there was still hope for Elijah. But for that hope to happen, he had to be shown the error of his ways, and that was only going to happen one way.

"You're going to force me to beat you right into the ground, aren't you?" Kid Flash said.

"Welcome to the human race." Cauterize replied.

The two disappeared.

And then reappeared some distance away, their bodies and weapons clashing together, as the blurs of color blasted and fired all over the glass battlefield, and eventually off of it. The battle on Africa lasted another minute before they zapped off onto the Atlantic Ocean, the two speedsters approached the final leg of the race.

One thing was for sure, it would be a photo finish.

"Anyone see anything?" Beast Boy asked from his perch on the special looking rock Terra had formed. He was sitting on it as a hawk, looking around.

"For the twelfth time, no." Scalpel replied from his lookout post.

"Nothing here either." Savior replied.

"Ditto." Terra finished.

The four teens were once again perched far above Light City, just below the clouds of still clustered there chemicals (going into the clouds wasn't harmful, but as mentioned, it pretty much blocked all vision, even though they were thinner due to the shutdown of the plants. The theorized high winds for tonight either hadn't arrived yet or had been erased from the weather patterns, which could very well have happened), watching below. The cops had managed to clear the streets relatively quickly: as mentioned beforehand everyone was pretty much hiding inside due to Cauterize's actions. They had only begun to venture back out: it didn't take much for the cops to get them back in, as they just had to say "Cauterize isn't dead!" to a few people and it quickly spread like wildfire and sent everyone running back into their houses or shelters. The people that Cauterize had moved from the suburbs were either being kept in the police station or City Hall. The streets were empty, save for a few patrolling cars and the observing Titans.

"Man, it's been nearly an hour. Can't these guys run around the world in the blink of an eye?" Beast Boy griped.

"They can…but this isn't a race. This is a fight. There's racing in it, but…" Savior said, as he began to confuse himself. "All I know is, I'm pretty sure that they'll come back, so we have to stay alert and…"

The loud explosion of sound beneath them made Savior jump, and he blinked for a few seconds before he turned, ran to the edge of the rock, and leaned over to see an explosion down below.

Cauterize and Kid Flash had indeed returned, so fast none of the Titans had seen them approach as they zipped in from the ocean (which had been mostly uneventful except for Kid Flash having to dodge an oil tanker along the way) and headed back into the city, where the two had zapped around and through the twisted streets before Kid Flash had finally caught up to Cauterize and floored him with another punch, sending him flying across a street and against the side of a car.

"Damn, they're fast. Titans, go!" Savior ordered, and Terra swung the rock down towards the fight.

Kid Flash reappeared in front of Cauterize, breathing hard but not hyperventilating. He looked better then Cauterize: the vigilante's lip was bleeding again and his costume showed several new tears from the tumbles and impacts he'd endured. He even had to lean on the car in order to ensure he stayed up, as he looked balefully at Kid Flash, who just looked unhappy but determined.

"Elijah, we can't keep doing this!" He protested. "You've lost! You can't match my speed! Please, why won't you surrender? Are you afraid of prison? You think you'll be going to a normal jail? You think an Oz could hold someone like you? You'll go to a special facility. You'll get help there. Come on Elijah, I…"

Cauterize's fist sent Kid Flash flying back across the street.

"Shut up and FIGHT!" Cauterize yelled, as he blasted after Kid Flash, his swords drawn back, as the teen flipped to his feet.

"As you wish." Kid Flash said, as he dodged away from the slash and kicked Cauterize across the face, sending him crashing into a nearby brick wall, a wall Kid Flash slammed Cauterize into more as he lanced over and slammed his fists into his chest. His follow up punch to the face missed though, as Cauterize ducked away and kicked Kid Flash in the gut. Kid Flash ducked the followup slash though and backhanded Cauterize farther down the street.

"So what do we do?" Scalpel said as the rock slid down near where the battle was happening, as the two figures once again became distorted colors as they dashed forward and met in another sparring match, their arms and legs blurring as they launched their blows and slashes.

Savior thought it over.

"We just watch for now. I don't think we can really interfere any…" Savior said, and then the two speedsters split apart and began zapping all around the streets, and the Titans got dizzy trying to follow them before they collided a dozen blocks away.

Cauterize flew against the side of another building and slammed against it, back first, hard. His swords clattered to the ground as he fell to his knees, gasping.

Kid Flash reappeared. There was still pity in his expression, but it was slowly slipping away, replaced by hard determination. He now understood that Elijah Versaw truly was a crusader, and you can only handle crusaders one way, as the helmeted teen, his glass front a spiderweb of cracks, looked up at him.

Kid Flash just cracked his knuckles.

Cauterize snatched up his swords and dashed forward at Kid Flash. Kid Flash dodged away from the double slash…and then his eyes widened slightly as instead of trying to continue the attack Cauterize ran off in a totally different direction. Kid Flash blinked, and then followed him.

Which was exactly what Cauterize wanted, as he zipped around a corner and onto a street on which both sides were packed with parked cars. Cauterize ran straight for one of them…and phased through it, running onward at an angle as he crossed back across the street and phased through another car, then breaking away to the other side and phasing through a third one, zigzagging up the road…as the cars exploded behind him, covering his rear with a deadly fire and shrapnel storm that would even give a Speed Force user trouble, as he finished up his demolition derby and ran onto the street that formed the T to the thoroughfare he had just turned into a bomb…

And Kid Flash slammed into him from the side, sending him flying down the road in a bone-breaking twirl. Indeed, it had been a good tactic…but Kid Flash hadn't run up the road. He'd run past the road, up the next road, and back the way he had come, just in time to intercept Cauterize as he had. That, perhaps more then anything, proved it: Kid Flash was faster. He'd covered nearly twice the ground in the same amount of time, as Cauterize finally stopped his tumble and lay on the ground.

Kid Flash zapped up and stopped about thirty feet from Cauterize. The teen was trying to get up, but he was struggling mightily. It looked to be pretty much all over but the shouting.

"Why…" Cauterize suddenly said. Kid Flash arched an eyebrow, as Cauterize struggled to his feet. The bastard had somehow held onto his swords.

"Why…are you doing this…" Cauterize asked. There wasn't any plea for mercy in the tone though: it was an actual question, like if Cauterize had been enquiring about the weather.

Kid Flash blinked. A long time ago, he would have given a smartass answer…but not this time.

"You murdered people Elijah. Hundreds of them. Even thought they did bad things…you broke the law Elijah. Even if they got away with breaking it…that didn't give you the right to break it as well. In a way, what you did was worse. They had no idea of what they were doing. You did. And you did it anyway."

"The law…" Cauterize replied: there might have been a hint of a chuckle in that voice, as he fully stood up, his form wavering. "Ah…but Kid Flash…surely you know…the law is a human institution…and humans are oh…so prone to failing…"

"That's not an excuse."

"An excuse you say? Who says it is an excuse? Who's to say…except history…and I know my history…" Cauterize said, and coughed. "Laws are fragile things. Back in the 30's, a bunch of folks though it would be best if people stopped drinking alcohol, so they outlawed alcohol. You know what this accomplished? Two things. It showed how blind and stupid these people for not realizing that people LIKE to drink alcohol…and it allowed people who were willing to provide it to make money, LOTS of money. Do you know why there are Stephen Pierces in this world Kid Flash? Because of Prohibition. Before then, criminals were the lackeys, the hired muscle of corrupt politicians. But Prohibition allowed criminals to become so obscenely rich that politicians became THEIR lackeys. In their moral superiority, those fools brought about the possibility for crime lords to exist. All because they thought their law would be for the best. And look what it did."

"Hindsight is always 20/20."

"Oh maybe…so let's keep on using that hindsight. I believe it was once against the law for black people to have any rights whatsoever! The law said they were slaves, less then animals, to be used and discarded as the almighty white race to see fit, at least until a man came along and thought that wasn't so great. Hell, this country had a little war over it, might have heard of it, nearly split the U.S in half…funny, in his time, Lincoln was despised and thought to be wrong for his actions too." Cauterize said. "What else should I bring up? How about the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II? They were locked up in concentration camps, surely that was against the law! Didn't stop them from doing it! How about hate literature, according to the Constitution that's not against the law, but damn, you'd think it should be! How about gay marriage? Homosexuality was once classified as a mental disorder, now people are screaming at each other on whether or not the law should be changed for them. Laws are words on paper, Kid Flash. It is what the talkers hide behind. And as Shakespeare said, talkers are not good doers."

Silence.

"Well…you say law is a human institution…and you willingly violated it. What does that make you?" Kid Flash asked.

Cauterize chuckled.

"I think…" Cauterize said, as he raised his swords, so that they were aimed at the ground at a rough 60-degree angle. "That the question should be…what does that make you…according to me?"

And then Cauterize's teeth clenched hard, as he began to growl…and Kid Flash realized something was wrong.

Then the feeling washed over him, a feeling only a Speed Force user could detect, and his eyes widened.

"ELIJAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

Cauterize's only reply was a rising growling yell, as rips in the air suddenly opened behind him and yellow energy surged out, striking and coursing through Cauterize's form, dancing on his body.

"What the HELL?" Savior said as the rock floated down nearby. "What the hell is that!"

"……….It's the Speed Force." Scalpel replied. Somehow, he knew, knew that the power that was crackling over and around Elijah Versaw was the power of the Speed Force made visible, the energy that flowed through Cauterize and Kid Flash's bodies made visible and actual in the world.

But only Kid Flash knew how very dangerous this was. He'd screwed up, big time: he hadn't ended the battle and hence Elijah had resorted to THIS tactic.

What was he doing, exactly? As mentioned, one had to carefully train yourself in the Speed Force, because if you tried to run before you could walk, you could very well get killed. And Elijah Versaw, normally so cool and collected, had trained himself very well. But it wasn't enough. The peak of his abilities could not match Kid Flash's. So he had done the only thing he could think of in his refusal to lose: thrown caution to the wind and thrown the door to his particular connection wide open, calling upon the Speed Force at a level he had had never dared touch. In layman's terms, he had drawn new numbers on his speedometer and was now forcing the needle to them…and that was bad, because even IF drawing numbers on a car could magically increase its top speed…there's no guarantee that the engine will be able to keep up with the requirements of that speed.

So Cauterize was putting his life at great risk…and more. Because the Speed Force wasn't an engine, it was a separate dimension of incomprehensible power. It let those who found a bond with it draw upon its energies to defy the laws of physics in their world. But that was concentrated through the will of a human being. By throwing open this door, Cauterize hadn't just potentially increased his own speed to higher, possibly fatal levels, he had let raw Speed Force energy into the world.

And seeing how the maximum speed in our reality is the speed of light and that is considered slow in the Speed Force dimension…well, it wasn't quite as bad as matter meeting anti-matter…but it still had serious consequences.

A bolt of power crackled out, striking a nearby car. The car flew forward so fast that the Titans never saw what happened: one moment it was there and the next it had struck a building several dozen blocks away, hitting the (fortunately very thick) stone walls so fast the car was nearly compacted as thin as paper. Another bolt zapped another car, and as the Titans watched it suddenly began rusting, rusting so fast that within five seconds the entire car had fallen apart and dissolved into the wind.

"ELIJAH! STOP!" Kid Flash yelled. If you're wondering why Kid Flash didn't just run in and punch him to break Cauterize's connection, the reason was that while Kid Flash tapped the Speed Force, the different between his power and the power zapping around Cauterize was like the difference between trying to eat a steak and trying to eat a cow grazing on a field. If one of those Speed Force offshoots touched Kid Flash, he might be able to absorb it…or he might get accelerated so fast he'd smash into something before even he realized it, or his cells might age ten thousand years in a few seconds, or his heart might try and beat a few thousand times in a second…in any case, chances are it would be very harmful.

"STOP IT! YOU'LL RIP A HOLE BETWEEN OUR REALITIES! THE TWO WILL DESTROY EACH OTHER! STOP IT! STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!"

"NO!" Cauterize screamed back.

"ELIJAH, THIS WILL UNDO EVERYTHING YOU DID! STOP!"

"NO! YOU'LL DO THE SAME!" Cauterize yelled back.

And then, with a loud popping bang, the energy tendrils suddenly fizzled out. Cauterize jerked, and then his arms seemed to go limp as he slouched down.

"Elijah?" Kid Flash asked.

"You…you and your ignorance and your self righteous judgments and your goddamn LAWS, the laws that took my stepfather up to guard them and ignored him when he broke them, the laws that Tercero and Pierce bought and sold like they were tangible products to be used as needed and discarded, the laws you and your stupid, worthless fellows hold so high when all it does is bring misery to those who deserve it least…"

Cauterize looked up, and Kid Flash could feel the power, feel it coursing through Elijah's body. Well, one problem solved: Cauterize had managed to open the door and close it without killing himself or destroying the world…and in a process had given himself a power up whose limits Kid Flash had no idea of.

"I will not allow your system to judge me! I will not let them take me and proclaim me a monster and a madman when they stood by and did nothing! I WILL NOT BE HELD TO TASK BY THE LAWS THAT MADE MY MOTHER A BROKEN, WEEPING SHELL! I'LL DIE FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ho boy." Savior said from his rock, as Cauterize snapped up his swords, did several fancy twirls, and then pointed the sword at Kid Flash.

"I'LL SHOW YOU NO MERCY! NOW GET READY!"

The only thing that saved Kid Flash was the fact that he had started slipping into a Speed Force state when Cauterize was still talking, even though to him it took nearly five hours for Cauterize to finish said talking. Kid Flash figured he'd need the boredom.

He was right.

Because even at the deep state he was in, he barely saw Cauterize as he dashed forward, going from 0 to roughly 130,000 mps in no time at all, as Kid Flash barely dodged away from the double slash. The Teen Titans didn't even see it: they were left staring at an empty street.

"HI-YAH!" Cauterize yelled as he slashed, as Kid Flash dodged, as mentioned, and ran backwards, only to have his eyes widen as Cauterize was suddenly in front of him, slashing again, and he yelled as he didn't quite dodge away and received a cut across his arm. He dashed off anyway, and found that instead of chasing Cauterize ran back and did a blur of sword twirls that fired off more wind blades at him. Kid Flash dodged them all, and to the Titans a building suddenly exploded and collapsed (ironically it was the same now abandoned slum where Cauterize had killed Deenen Combs), but Kid Flash didn't have time to notice that as Cauterize was in his face and slashing furiously. For the first time, Kid Flash actually had to block the blows, striking the flats and hilts of the swords to keep the blades away from him, but even that wasn't enough as Kid Flash received several nasty cuts to his hands and forearms before he blitzed away. Cauterize followed him, going around, up and down, and around again Light City, their trip so fast even the Titans couldn't track it.

Kid Flash ran around a corner, furiously trying to think of a plan, and then Cauterize zipped around the same corner. Kid Flash turned around to check…

And Cauterize leapt into the air, his body a blur of precise motions all the way back down to the ground as he spun/twirled/twisted/coiled/revolved with his swords, finally slashing them down when he hit the ground and firing off a gigantic wind blade that rapidly closed on Kid Flash's heels…

As he hit the end of the building, ran up the side of it, and leapt off just in time before the giant wind blade destroyed the five floors below him, doing a slow backflip over the destruction that erupted beneath him and then quickly whirling his body around to slow his fall before he landed…

And Cauterize appeared in front of him, right in mid slash. And this time there was no escape.

To the Titans, who were busy reacting to the exploding floors of the building…all they saw were the two figures reappear.

"……..Oh no." Terra said.

As Kid Flash staggered back, putting his hand to his chest and bringing it back, looking at the blood there…and then he fell to his knees, as Cauterize stood back up from his knelt position.

"All right, that's it! Titans, GO!" Savior yelled, and Terra put the rock in overdrive down towards the battle.

Cauterize glanced up behind him, and then he snorted and raised one hand, spinning his arm rapidly.

"OH NO! LOOK…!" Savior yelled, but it was two late, as the rock was caught in the tornado Cauterize had created, a powerful windstorm that swept the rock up and blew it away like it was made of paper, carrying the yelling, screaming Titans away with it.

Kid Flash groaned, and Cauterize turned back to him.

"What do you think of your laws now?" He asked.

"I know…that even if I die…they will bring you to justice. They'll punish you for what you did. " Kid Flash replied.

"Hmmmm." Cauterize replied. He did not press the attack: instead he raised one sword and tapped it against his shoulder. "But what I did…does that define who I am? I know I am not what the laws say child. And I am not a monster like people would say. If anything…I am a warrior, one who took action when no one else could. Believe me or not, it does not matter to me. But what I know is that a monster would finish you off while you are wounded, but a warrior…" Cauterize said, and then he suddenly brought the sword off his shoulder and tossed it to Kid Flash, who caught it with some surprise.

"A warrior offers a downed opponent a sword." Cauterize said, as he brought both his hands to his sole remaining blade. "If I have to kill you, it will not be with blades while you wield nothing. So come, Kid Flash! Stand! I know you can!"

And even though he had been slashed across the torso…he could…and he did.

"Now…fight with all your might! Because I will show no more mercy, and no quarter!" Cauterize said, and ran forward.

The swords clanged together, and the two struggled against each other, but while their speeds seemed to constantly surpass each others their strength remained the same…and then Kid Flash shoved Cauterize back and slashed at him. Cauterize ducked under the blow and spun around, and the two kicked in the Speed Force as they zapped forward. Their swords clashed together, again and again and again, as the two dueled at high speed, wind whirling up around them and blowing shards of paper and other loose trash, sparks shooting from the blades.

"Well, looks like you have some training in these arts!" Cauterize said, and then blocked the sword, forced it down, and then whirled in for a deadly decapitating strike.

His blade found its twin, as Kid Flash got it up in time to block.

"More then you would think!" Kid Flash replied, and went on the offensive as the two turned up their powers even more: to a viewer they now looked like a movie going on fast forward, the clangs of their weapons combining into one long metallic shriek.

Kid Flash dashed away: Cauterize followed, barely missing a slash that carved a deep line in the wall of a building, as Kid Flash rolled under it and slashed at Cauterize's back: Cauterize swung his sword behind him and did a behind the back block, and then whirled and sliced at Kid Flash's chest: Kid Flash ducked and swung his own sword out, only to find Cauterize bringing his blade back to block. Once again the two jostled for position.

And then they split apart, and once again their streaking forms blasted all over Light City, materializing in one place as they exchanged several blows and then split apart again, as the people of Light City cowered in their homes and asked whoever was listening for it to end.

On streets, on buildings, on the walls of buildings, in parks, in the suburbs, on the beaches, on the hills, and back to downtown the two battled, the frenzy growing and growing, as the blades, superbly designed, finally began to chip and crack as they clashed again and again and again, as Cauterize and Kid Flash zapped back and forth through the streets several more times before splitting apart, running back, and then dashing forward at each other at great speed.

They met outside City Hall, and every window on the block shattered from the sound that was made when their blades collided, though the sound was so quick that most normal people didn't hear it, as once again the two struggled against each other.

And then it came. A very slight creaking noise from Cauterize's blade. The kind of noise you don't want metal making.

The two split apart and slashed out at the same time, their swords colliding. Sparks flew as the two began slipping back into a Speed Force state and kept going, deeper and deeper, each trying to outpace the other.

Kid Flash shifted his weight and slid around the blow as he tried to punch Cauterize in the face: Cauterize dodged away and stabbed for Kid Flash's side: Kid Flash leapt and spun, bringing his sword down on Cauterize's. More sparks flew.

Cauterize did a small leap away: Kid Flash followed with a downward slash. The two blades met above the warriors, and Cauterize slid his sword down and away and then tried to swing it up and into Kid Flash's unprotected gut: Kid Flash met the blade at the ground before it could. Cauterize pulled away and slashed for Kid Flash's head: Kid Flash dodged and stabbed for the stomach: Cauterize whirled around it and went for a spinal slash, Kid Flash flipped onto his back and blocked the blow, shoving Cauterize away as he kipped up and whirled just in time to block another slash. The two exchanged several more blows, neither side getting anywhere, and then instead of blocking a downward slash Kid Flash spun around it and twirled his sword in his hand as he stabbed to the side. He only managed a scratch on his foe though, as Cauterize twirled away himself, and as Kid Flash turned to face him he was swinging his sword back and up for a powerful slash, leaving his chest and stomach wide open, and Kid Flash went for the target, stabbing…

Cauterize turned his slash into a roll, rolling under the blade, and as Kid Flash frantically turned around Cauterize stood up, turned around, and slashed all at the same time.

The two blades slammed together…

And Cauterize's sword broke off at the hilt, the black and gold etched metal shattering in his hand…even as Cauterize brought his foot up and kicked Kid Flash's sword wielding hand, knocking the blade free, as Cauterize released the hilt of his sword at Kid Flash's face, the flying hilt distracting the teen just for a small, small, small, small, small moment…

As Cauterize grabbed the other sword in mid air and stabbed.

Kid Flash's body jerked.

The forms reappeared in front of the City Hall, Cauterize, sword out, impaled through Kid Flash's front, the two speedsters looking at each other, human eyes staring at dead, black glass.

"And so, it ends." Cauterize said.

Kid Flash did not reply, as he looked slowly down at his chest and body.

"I have never said this to anyone yet…but they did not deserve it. You do. Rest in peace, Kid Flash." Cauterize said.

And Kid Flash looked back up, his eyes fierce.

"You might have come to that conclusion…a little fast."

Behind his helmet, Cauterize's eyes widened…and then he looked down.

At the sword, vertically held, was revealed, not stuck in Kid Flash's guts…but held tightly between his side and arm. The sensation of the blade sliding between the two had been the sensation Cauterize had thought was it pushing through flesh, flesh it had missed…

And for the first time…Cauterize's mouth dropped open in complete and utter shock.

"No."

The vigilante yanked back the blade, throwing open his reset throttle to the utter max, as he whirled and tried to slash the blade at Kid Flash's head.

Kid Flash's left hand chopped into Cauterize's wrist, and the blade flew from Cauterize's fingers as Kid Flash brought forward his right hand in a fist.

Cauterize's helmet shattered from the blow, as he fired off down the street like a bullet and crashed all the way through three buildings before he came to another street and bounced along that for a while before he finally came to a stop, not moving.

Kid Flash caught the blade, looked at it, and then dropped it at his feet as he sped off, arriving near Cauterize's fallen form.

His eyes finally showing, Elijah Versaw pushed himself off the ground, looking at his foe in utter astonishment. After everything, the training, the preparation, the kinetic energy theft, the insane risk charge up…

"How…how can you be faster…how…" Cauterize said.

"You're Cauterize. You used the Speed Force to spill blood." Kid Flash said, as he adjusted his mask. "I'm Kid Flash. The Speed Force is IN my blood."

His name is Bart Allen.

He was born in the future, the grandson of Barry Allen, who may have been the second Flash but was always considered the paragon among noble speedsters through the eras. His grandfather was a hero among heroes, nobly giving his life to save the world. His parents were heroes as well, despite the tragedy that life threw at them. And despite having to leave his home time and after several false starts, in the end Bart Allen took up the legacy as well.

Once he was known as Impulse, his name defining him…but after a serious injury, he realized that such behavior was ultimately childish, and while he was still young and free to engage in kid games, one day the world would need him, and he would have to be ready. And so he retired his name and costume and took upon a new mantle. Once, Wally West wore it, the man who carried on the Flash name after Barry Allen sacrificed himself, until the time came when West had to put it away and don another costumea costume that he had done proud.

One day, that will be HIS destiny.

He is Bart Allen. He was Impulse. He is Kid Flash. One day, he will be The Flash.

He was BORN to run.

"Give up Elijah. It's over. You lost." Kid Flash said. "If you don't take up my offer this time…I WILL beat you right into the ground."

By now, Cauterize had managed to get up once more. Where he found the strength, Kid Flash did not know.

"I am…many things." Cauterize said. "But I am…not…a hypocrite. So I say…you want this victory…you'll have to KILL ME!" Cauterize yelled, and blasted forward.

The two met, one last time, as the two speedsters fought once more, but now there was no grace, no refinement, no control, in Cauterize's movements. He fought like a wild animal, like a rapid beast determined not to die, and even against that the faster Kid Flash had to take a step back, as the two fought in a blur of motion before splitting apart, once again dashing around Light City.

"Damn, is this ever going to end?" Beast Boy said as the Titans finally got back to the city on their rock, as Cauterize and Kid Flash zapped all over the city, covering all the ground they did before, one final farewell tour as the two clashed again and again, neither side landing a blow, but Kid Flash knowing that when he landed his it was over, and Cauterize knew that too, as he grew more wild-eyed and desperate, and finally, after barely avoiding a kick, blasted away from Kid Flash. Kid Flash gave chase as the two hit the beaches of Light City, the beaches that had once brought the city renown and prosperity an eternity ago, and then they exploded out onto the water, as Kid Flash dashed in for another punch and Cauterize whirled away, running backwards for a second before he turned around…

And he saw it. But by then it was far too late.

The oil tanker had been told it could dock in Light City after a navigational mistake caused it to lose too much fuel to make it to its homeport. And so it had headed there, slowly making its way to the city, oblivious of the chaos that was surrounding it. The crew hadn't noticed when Kid Flash had dodged around it during his return trip to Light City. It had continued on…and now it was drawing close…as Cauterize ran out into the waters around Light City's bay and realized, too late, that it was in front of him.

And in his frame of mind…Cauterize only could think of one thing to do. If he'd been more reserved, more controlled like he usually was, he could have just run up the side, or cut off the Speed Force and gone under the water so he could swim to safety, or hell, even gone around it. But in the wild-eyed, uncontrolled mindset that Elijah had slipped into in his desperation not to lose…only one message came through: survive.

To Cauterize, it was much like trying to keep your eyes open when you sneeze. You can't, and Cauterize couldn't stop his own body, as it tapped the talent it possessed to avoid harm…

And vibrated his molecules, phasing Cauterize straight through the side of the oil tanker.

Kid Flash saw it coming. He had begun opening his mouth to shout a warning he knew would come too late…and then he saw Elijah's form begin to blur, and he realized what the teen had chosen to do…

And much like Elijah, Bart did what came naturally to him, as he threw open the throttle even more, even farther then he had during the entirety of the battle with Cauterize, pushing himself to a state he rarely used, and never this quickly.

As Cauterize's body was phasing through the hull, Kid Flash zapped up onto the tanker, and in an amount of time that was insane even for a Speed Force user, combed the entire oil tanker, grabbing the crewmembers and passengers and bringing them all out on the deck, getting the last few even as he felt the reaction beginning, as he clustered all the yet uncomprehending crew members on the deck…

And hoped to god that the movie Waterworld was accurate.

As Cauterize finished phasing through the hull…and turned around, immediately realizing what he had done.

But even he lacked the speed to take it back.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

The entire oil tanker exploded, the disrupted atoms of the hull detonating and igniting the entire stock of crude liquid within. The explosion lit up the night sky as flames blasted from twenty different points on the tanker, including several spots on the deck…but fortunately, Kid Flash had chosen well: where he had positioned the crew wasn't one of them.

Not that it mattered, as no sooner had the crew realized they were all suddenly on the deck when the entire tanker had gone up in flames and all of them began screaming, even as flaming oil poured from the shattered hull, the ship immediately beginning to sink…

As Kid Flash collapsed, a wave of agony going through his muscles. He'd pushed himself too hard, too fast, and his engine had blown a gasket, so to speak. He'd need more then a few seconds to recover…

And it appeared life wasn't going to give him even those few seconds, as a second wave of explosions shook the tanker, and the top deck began to collapse, the ground breaking away towards the clustered people. They screamed even louder, as Kid Flash stared at the destruction and wondered what to do. He could carry two people at a time, tops, back to shore, and there was over a hundred people on the deck, and he was so tired…so very tired, and the floor was collapsing towards them…

As white lines shoot down, grabbing the people in two huge groups, as a green griffin swooped down and plucked Kid Flash off the deck, and then the Titans flew away as flame exploded upward from where they had just been. Savior pulled the crew up onto the (thankfully very large) rock and uncoiled his lines, as Beast Boy dropped Kid Flash down next to the now confused as hell group.

"Ok people, stay calm, you'll be ok…" Terra said, as Savior headed over to Kid Flash to check on him.

"You ok buddy?" Savior asked.

"Yeah…just burned myself out saving them…but I recover fast…" Kid Flash said, taking slow deep breaths to re-enrich his blood with oxygen…and coughing on the smoke as it spewed upward from the massive oil fire, as the tanker began slipping beneath the waves, vanishing rapidly into a massive, flaming pool of oil.

" Oh damn…" Scalpel said as he watched the tanker rip itself apart from one final set of explosions. "Oh god…after all this…why this…"

Savior turned away from Kid Flash and looked himself, his face grim.

"As H.L Mencken said, imagine the Creator as a low comedian and the world suddenly makes sense." Savior said dismally, and turned back to Terra. "Take these people to shore, quickly!"

"Already doing so! But what about Cauterize?" Terra asked.

"Somehow, I have a feeling he's ceased to be a problem."

Savior's assessment was right on the money, as on the nearby waterfront near the warehouse, roughly where the oil tanker would have set up anchor had Cauterize not done what he did…the vigilante appeared. Slowly, he reached up and slipped his helmet off, as Elijah, his hair soaked with sweat and blood, looked at the disaster unfolding in the ocean before him, blinking his eyes a few times like he hoped that doing so would make it disappear.

"No." Elijah said, as his helmet fell from his suddenly numb fingers. "Nooooooo…NO! NO! I DIDN'T WANT THIS!" Elijah screamed, falling to his knees. "I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!! NO! WHY GOD NO! WHY LIKE THIS!?!??!?!" Elijah wailed, as he balled his hands up and brought his head down to them, almost like he was bowing to a vengeful god in the vain hopes he would take back the destruction he had wrought.

"Because every path has a consequence."

Elijah looked up from his agonizing to see Scalpel standing nearby. The alien had spied Cauterize as they had flown over and leapt off, saying he was going to keep an eye on him…like that was possible if Elijah didn't want it. But Scalpel knew even before he landed that Cauterize was beaten. He'd beaten himself. In the worst way possible.

"Noooooooooooooo…" Elijah moaned, looking out at the oil spill, which continued to grow as the tanker that had by now slipped beneath the waves continued to fountain out its cargo, the liquid immediately sliding to the surface as it and water didn't mix. Scalpel looked with pity on the tormented teenager, no longer the mighty vigilante Cauterize but reduced to the child he was, almost on the verge of asking for his mother. Which this had all been about, in the end.

"I'm sorry Elijah." Scalpel said, turning away and looking towards the spreading calamity. It had been a big tanker.

"The oil will ruin the beaches…without the beaches…my city…all I fought for…no…no…" Elijah whimpered, and then placed his face in his hands again, weeping quietly.

"I didn't want this as well Elijah…but like I said, every choice will lead to consequences. You chose to take up the blade and cut down your foes…and in the end it seemed that fate decided you would receive the cruelest cut in the end. The bad part of this city, the good, you…" Scalpel said, as he spied his teammates approaching on another one of Terra's rocks. "It is like your Shaking playwright said at the end of that dramatic piece about the doomed lovers. All are punished."

"Ho man…oh man oh man oh shit." Beast Boy said as he dropped down next to Scalpel and finally got a good luck as the oil spill.

"Can we clean that up?" Terra asked.

"I don't see how…not with our powers…what about you Kid Flash?" Savior asked.

"I don't know…even when I recover, I don't know what I could do…we'd need a aquamental to really have any effect, and even then…aw man…why did it have to end like this?"

"Why shouldn't it?"

The Teen Titans (and Kid Flash) turned at the sudden speaking voice, as Elijah slowly lifted himself up from his crouching position. His anguish was gone, replaced by something harder.

"Heroes. In the end, a name only. When it comes to the hard tasks…all you can do is stand by shackled by your own codes and rules, and fight when it has ceased to be important…always claiming but never doing…not when it matters…" Elijah said as he stood up, looking outward at the flaming oil spill.

"You did this Elijah. Not us. We made our choices, you made yours. Our intentions may be covering the road to hell, but you chose to walk on it." Savior replied.

Elijah glanced at the group. His blue eyes looked like chips of diamond.

"Maybe so…but in the end…all words are irrelevant. Only actions matter. And if said actions bring about consequences…well, one must face up to them…" Elijah said, his voice wistful.

"Do me a favor." He said, after a short pause. "If you see my mother…tell her I love her…and that this was all for her. Tell her to live." Elijah said, as he turned away.

"What? Elijah, what are you doing?" Scalpel asked.

"Setting things right." Elijah said, as he scooped up his helmet.

And Savior realized exactly what Elijah planned to do, and he raised an arm to issue an order to prevent it, because he was certain there was another way…

He never got the chance, as Elijah suddenly blurred away, and then the ground in front of the Titans exploded, as Elijah phased a hand through the line in a line in front of the Titans, throwing them all to the ground, including the still recovering Kid Flash, as Elijah reappeared back where he had been

"So long Titans." Elijah said, as he brought his helmet up.

"Elijah! What the hell are you trying to do!" Savior yelled as he got up. It was a rhetorical question, but Savior couldn't help but yell it all the same.

"Do what you heroes are supposed to do." Cauterize said, as he slipped his helmet back on. "I'm going to save the fucking day."

And Elijah Versaw gave one last look to the still trying to get up in time Titans, and then he winked at them through his shattered faceplate, a salute to worthy foes.

And then he was gone, blasting off across the water.

"What is he doing! WHAT IS HE DOING!" Savior cursed as he watched the form streak out to the oil spill. "What can he do, even WITH the Speed Force?"

"…Whatever it takes." Scalpel replied.

Elijah ran out onto the flaming spill, dodging among the fires as he reached the rough center of the oil slick, and then with a powerful dash he sent a ripple off the water, creating a small arc…a arc just small enough for Elijah to run around the forming ripple and up it, flying up into the air above the oil spill.

Scalpel blinked.

"Can he…"

And Elijah began to spin, his body vanishing into a blur, and then just plain vanishing, as he whirled at speeds beyond human comprehension. The tornado formed immediately and grew larger by the second…as it touched down on the oil and began sucking it up, carrying it up and away from the yet untouched beaches.

"What the hell is he doing? He can't carry all the oil away, there's too much of it! What…" Savior said…

And then the flaming oil began to be drawn in, and suddenly the whole tornado ignited in a blazing pillar of fire, once again lighting up the night, and every citizen of Light City who had been drawn outside by the explosion could only stay and marvel at the sight.

The Titans weren't marveling though, as they recoiled from the semi-explosion that resulted when all the oil on the tornado ignited, and then stared at the conflagration.

"He's not trying to draw away the oil. He's trying to draw it up until it all burns." Beast Boy said, figuring out the plan.

"What? Is he insane? That kind of heat will boil the water around him faster then even he can imagine! He'll be roasted alive! His speed won't help him if he just stays in one place! Fuck! Shit!" Savior cursed. "Terra, Beast Boy, go in! See if there's any way you can help him, any way at all!"

The new couple obeyed, flying out towards the flaming tornado, as Beast Boy turned into a dolphin and dove underwater at the edge of the shrinking oil puddle and Terra flew on towards the tornado itself. But they were both immediately repulsed, though Savior could only see Terra try several times to fly in and be driven back from the heat. She might have been able to manipulate liquid magma so the heat didn't hurt her, but this was pure fire, out of her control.

Beast Boy suddenly popped up in the water below the docks, looking a tad bit dazed as he turned human and Savior pulled him back onto solid ground.

"No good! The water's so hot it's not just boiling in the tornado, it's boiling under it! I couldn't get close! And even if I could, the suction's so powerful I would have been swept up and turned into fish sticks!" Beast Boy said. Savior hadn't expected any results, but hearing it straight from a teammate's mouth somehow made it absolute, as Terra flew back and set down, already telling Savior pretty much the same thing, but he had tuned it out as he looked at the fiery twister, which was still going, somehow…

"How are you still alive?" Savior asked.

And inside the tornado, Elijah wondered the same thing in a tiny corner of his mind, the main part taken up with the agony he was in, right in the middle of a blast furnace, his flesh literally starting to bubble, but he wouldn't stop, he just spun faster still, and faster, and faster…

"Bart?" Savior asked, as he looked over at his ally. Kid Flash flexed his legs one more time in the series of stretches he had been doing.

"I've recovered. I'll see if I can do anything." Kid Flash said, and dashed off, running across the water, onto the remaining oil, and zipping around the flame cyclone. But even he, with his great speed, couldn't find an opening, and he was forced to retreat back to the shore.

"Damn! No good! He's stuck in there!" Kid Flash said.

"Then…he's as good as dead." Savior said. "Fuck. Damn, Elijah…all right, practical matters, if he can't get…"

"Look." Scalpel said, pointing.

A stream of golden light suddenly broke from within the flame tornado.

"What the…"

More streams emerged, shining brilliantly.

"The Speed Force." Kid Flash said.

"What? Is he opening the tear again? Damn it, he'll…!" Savior yelled.

"No…" Kid Flash said. "No…this isn't like before…he's…not trying to draw more power into himself…he's just drawing on the energy…in and of itself…he's gone past the speed of light…gone past all the measurements in this world…" Kid Flash said.

"Oh? What happens then?" Savior asked, even as more and more light erupted from within the tornado.

Kid Flash just stared, even as the last of the oil was sucked up from the water and joined the flaming twister while golden power streamed from its heart.

"Transcendence."

And then it happened.

As the fire vanished, the oil finally giving completely burned out, accelerated by Elijah's power…

And then the streams of light become one gigantic explosion of luminescence, as the Titans threw up their hands to shield their eyes.

And then it faded, instantly, as the water tornado sagged and then collapsed, falling back into the ocean as the waves washed over each other, and then the sea was smooth again.

The Titans lowered their arms, staring at where the tornado had been.

"Damn! Quick! Rescue effort! He might still be alive somehow!" Savior ordered, and Beast Boy and Terra flew off again.

"He's not alive." Kid Flash said, as he looked out onto the water. "At least, not in the conventional sense any more."

"Then what the hell happened?" Savior asked.

"I don't think you could understand."

"Try me."

So Kid Flash told him.

And he had been right. He didn't really understand, as Beast Boy and Terra came back saying there wasn't a body. There wasn't even a trace of the teenager who had been named Elijah Versaw and called himself Cauterize. The two arrived at the tail end of Kid Flash's explanation.

"…….Damn." Terra said.

"…….Damn." Beast Boy echoed.

"…….Yeah. Damn." Savior said.

"………Oh damn." Scalpel said, but he wasn't looking at the group. He was looking up at the sky.

"Guys, I think we have a new problem."

A rumble of noise caught Savior's ear, and he looked up.

The clouds of chemicals above Light City had changed. They were larger, fatter, angrier, and as Savior watched, lightning streaked through them, followed by several short, fierce thunderclaps.

"………..Oh shit." Savior said. "The smoke from the oil combustion. Elijah burned up all the oil, but the smoke from it…so much…there's some kind of chemical reaction happening in the clouds! The oil smoke acted as a catalyst of some sort!"

"But what kind of catalyst?" Scalpel asked.

Savior was about to answer, except Beast Boy suddenly started yelling in extreme pain, grabbing his shoulder as he ran around. The Titans jumped, and then they looked around for an attack, and finding none, they went over to help Beast Boy, who was still holding his shoulder and yelling.

"Something stung me!" He yelled.

"Let me look." Scalpel said, gently taking Beast Boy's hand and drawing it away.

He found a small hole burned right through the shoulder of Beast Boy's outfit, a hole that continued into the flesh. It was small, but deep: he'd probably have to clean it to ensure no problems…and what the hell had made the hole in the first place?

"Looks like he was burned by something…but I can't see…"

And then it fell past the Titans, a swift drop that struck the ground…and began to hiss loudly. The Titans blinked, and then Terra yanked the ground where the drop had fallen up and brought it up for the Titans to examine.

As the liquid ate right through the foot of stone Terra had called up and fell back to the ground.

"…..Acid." Beast Boy said.

And then Savior felt it on his back, a small drop, and realizing what it was he shrugged his coat off and turned it around, revealing another drop of acid eating a hole through his jacket.

"Acid rain." Savior said grimly. "The oil smoke and chemical clouds did combine, and something in them has managed to form an extremely acidic compound that appears to be on the verge of being delivered to Light City. Just. Fucking. Great." Savior said, as he sliced the melting jacket portion off with the Shimmer and slipped it back on.

As more drops began to fall, hissing and eating away at whatever they struck, as the Titans suddenly realized how exposed they were.

"Quick, everyone! Under here!" Savior said, forming a Shimmer umbrella, and the Titans clustered under it. "Guys, we have a SERIOUS problem here. This stuff's POTENT. If we don't clear the clouds, this city…well, let's just say if the rain doesn't kill the people, the collapsing buildings will! The question is…what can we do?"

"Uh, I could form a rock fan…and blow the clouds away…and…" Terra stammered.

"No good, that could just move it to another city…owtch!" Savior said, as the acid rain began to fall a little heavier, eating at the Shimmer. And he knew the clouds were just starting to unleash their contents. "Damn! Does anyone have ANY ideas?"

And though it pained them, everyone came up blank.

"Dammit fuck! This city really is cursed!" Savior said, as he turned around and looked up at the angry purplish black clouds. "Well, we have to do something!"

"But what can we do?" Beast Boy said, feeling more helpless then he had at any point during this mission. "We have powers…but we can't move an entire weather front! We're just superheroes, not gods!"

"Not gods…wait! I know! Noel! The PDEM!" Scalpel said. Savior looked the alien.

"What?"

"The Personal Deus Ex Machina!"

"I know what it is, what? You want me to use it?"

"It could fix the problem, couldn't it?"

"Well yes…but Scalpel…that device can do anything on a small scale, operative word being ANYTHING! If I use it now, it won't be available to use the next time some souped up lunatic tries to destroy the world!"

"And if you don't use it now, this entire city is going to die, figuratively and most likely literally!"

"But…even so…a city…but quite possibly the world…" Savior said, not sure what to do.

"Noel." Kid Flash said, and the white haired leader of these four, feeling less like a leader then he ever had, looked at the speedster.

"For all his flaws, and his crimes, Elijah gave his LIFE for his city. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain!"

Savior stared at the yellow clan teen. He just looked back, his eyes sharing the looks of the three other Titans: we have faith you'll know what the right thing to do is.

Savior ground his teeth lightly, as he thought it over one last time, as the rain began to fall…

"All right." Savior said, his face growing determined, as he lifted his boot, slid the section aside, and removed the small black cube. He turned it over in his fingers, and then pressed the lone button. The cube opened up, the black sections rising up on white cylinders stalks until the cube had become the size of a large orange, a soft white light glowing within it.

"Wherever you are Elijah…you better appreciate me for this." Savior said, and then lowered his mouth to the cube.

"Purify the weather, so that nothing toxic, dangerous, or harmful to any life remains!"

And Savior turned and reared back, and then he slipped out from under the Shimmer umbrella as he hurled the cube upward into the sky. It flew up like a rocket, as a glow infused it, a reverse shooting start, as it flew up into the clouds…

And then the entire sky lit up in a colossal white flash, Light City truly living up to its name as the entire metropolis was bathed in intense radiance…and then it faded away, leaving just the clouds.

"Did it work?" Terra asked, as Savior removed the Shimmer umbrella.

"It's a PDEM. It ALWAYS works." Savior said. I think.

"But the clouds are still here."

"Yeah…but look. They're just normal gray clouds. The chemical smoke is gone." Beast Boy said.

And then Scalpel squinted, as he saw something…and then couldn't understand why he was seeing what he was seeing…at least at first.

"Savior asked to purify the weather, not for it to go away. And it did what he asked. Look." Scalpel said, pointing up.

The Titans looked to the sky. Much like Scalpel, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Man, those things really ARE literal." Beast Boy said.

"A tad too much so." Savior replied.

As soft white snow began falling on the Titans, almost like manna from the heavens, as if the gods were saying they were done tormenting the cursed town and that it was finally redeemed.

Roman couldn't believe it was snowing when he'd first seen it outside the windows of his limousine, and now, drawing up the docks, where several police cars, a few fire trucks, and an ambulance were, as his car stopped and he stepped out…he still couldn't believe it.

The metahumans were nearby, their alien doctor examining the green one's shoulder, the others just sitting around, which he supposed he would allow them. They'd been through a lot.

Savior saw Roman approaching, and drew away with his group to talk to him.

"You superheroes certainly cause some strange things to happen." Roman said.

"You think this is odd, you should have seen the time my friend Cyborg was infected with a computer virus." Savior replied.

"Hmmm. I suppose you would know what you're talking about." Roman said. He was about to ask another question, except he saw someone approaching, and figured it would be best if he was silent for a bit. Savior saw him too.

"Chesbro." Savior said.

"Well, looks like you came through after all, I suppose." Chesbro said, a small bandage on his forehead. "Where's Cauterize?"

Savior sighed.

"He's gone."

"He got away?" Chesbro asked.

"He's dead?" Came another voice, as Turnquist approached from another unit of police, who seemed to be there at the moment mostly to stand around.

"Neither." Savior said. "He…well…uh…he…"

"He crossed over." Came yet another voice, as Kid Flash suddenly appeared and spoke.

"He what?" Chesbro asked.

Kid Flash sighed.

"The power from which Elijah and I derived our speed…it is a separate dimension. Some tap the power of it and that is all…but some do more. And the door goes both ways. To save Light City, Elijah forced himself beyond all limits, and went beyond them…and beyond our time and space. He crossed over to the Speed Force. He's one with it now."

Silence.

"Can he come back?" Chesbro asked.

"……..The Speed Force may fuel us, but it is still an alien energy not of this reality. When our forms cross the boundaries by exceeding the greatest known speeds of this universe…speedsters who do so usually do not survive it. And even if they do, once they have touched the purity of the power, what they are becomes part of it. They merge with the energy, becoming one with the dimension."

"…But can he come back?" Chesbro asked again.

Kid Flash looked thoughtful.

"It is a possibility." He finally said. "But the only ones who have ever crossed onto the Speed Force and come back…have been in my bloodline. No one else has ever returned. And while I suppose there is a first for anything…I doubt it. For all intents and purposes, Elijah Versaw is dead. More then that, he no longer exists in this world. The price he paid for how he used his speed."

"Then I guess your job here is done." Chesbro said. "Well then…"

"Hold it John." Turnquist said, and the younger man looked at his uncle's best friend. "You can't go."

"I can't stay here, this is an official police investigation."

"Exactly, and it needs to be headed up. I believe this is yours." Turnquist said, as he handed Chesbro a badge.

Chesbro blinked, and then looked at the gold shield.

"Chief, you made a mistake. This says lieutenant."

"No. No mistake." Turnquist replied.

"….Oh." Chesbro replied. "…Well…thank you."

"No need. Now check with everyone to make sure we didn't miss anything…not that it matters. In the end all the perps are dead or gone. Shakespeare said it best. All are punished." Turnquist said, as he turned and left, heading for a patrol car, as Savior got an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Congratulations Lieutenant. I'm sure you'll do your job well." Savior said.

"Yes…and for that job to be done I would prefer if I never saw you and your teammates again." Chesbro replied.

Savior chuckled.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Chesbro just nodded, and then he turned and headed back to his fellow police officers.

"So it's over?" Roman finally asked.

"Yeah. It's over." Savior said.

"But still…it's a pity." Kid Flash said.

"A pity?" Roman said, somehow not sounding self-righteous. "Well, I suppose you being a fellow Speed Force user you can relate better, but I…well, he brainwashed me. I nearly took the fall for his crimes. So did Toby Garigen, that poor bastard. He may have sacrificed himself for us, but don't forget his previous deeds in light of his final one."

"No Roman. I'm not doing that." Savior said, as he turned and looked out towards the water. "But you see…all actions have a consequence. Elijah did what he did because he felt that he had no other choice, that the world had done nothing but fail him and never would do anything but that. Whether or not that is true is ultimately irrelevant, I suppose."

Savior glanced at his teammates, and the back at Light City, as the light snow continued to fall, coating the municipality in a layer of white.

"But for all Cauterize did…he understood in the end. His actions brought about a final consequence…and Elijah faced up to it. Despite his power, when all the chips were down…he didn't run away."

And Savior gazed out onto the water, the clear quiet ocean that had been the final step in Cauterize's race.

And somewhere, far away, under the smooth purity of the sea, a burned, shattered helmet slowly sank, drifting slowly down into the dark murk of the heart of the waves.

To Be Concluded.

Really This Time.